The H1N1 "swine flu" virus has claimed its first victim in Israel.
Shimon Azran, 35, died Saturday after being admitted a day earlier to Yoseftal Medical Center in Eilat, but the cause of death was not confirmed until Monday, when laboratory results returned.
Azran had a number of high risk factors: he was obese, was a heavy smoker, and had been suffering from pneumonia. The Health Ministry said he died of complications that resulted from the virus.
His family said it was planning to sue the hospital, and filed charges of medical negligence with the police Saturday night.
According to the Health Ministry more than 1,300 people have been diagnosed with the H1N1 virus in Israel. The global pandemic also claimed its first local victim in Saudi Arabia on Monday. The man was a resident of Dammam, and died in the hospital after being diagnosed with the virus.
Iran has banned all citizens under age 5 and over 65 from traveling on the annual Haj pilgrimage to the Islamic holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, for fear they might contract the virus. The Islamic Republic excluded pregnant women, and high risk patients with immune deficiencies, diabetes, heart and respiratory problems from participating as well. According to Mohammed Mehdi Gouya, an official at the Iranian Health Ministry, 23 of the 32 people diagnosed with the H1N1 virus thus far have been travelers returning from a Hajj pilgrimage.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 900 people have been killed by the swine flu and and more than 135,000 infected in 84 countries worldwide since the first outbreak was identified in Mexico last April.
Pharmaceutical companies hope to supply the United States with 160 million doses of a new swine flu vaccine by October, and it is expected that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will hurry the shot's approval through the routine channels used to update the standard influenza innoculations each year.