Greenlee County has recorded its first death attributed to the H1N1 flu, better known as the swine flu.

Greenlee County Health Department Director Steve Rutherford said in a news release dated Oct. 30 that the victim had recently been hospitalized with severe respiratory illness and died at a Tucson area hospital. Rutherford said patient confidentiality laws do not allow him to release the person's name nor where in Greenlee the person lived.

"This unfortunate death is the first to be reported (for) a Greenlee County resident (due) to the H1N1 virus," Rutherford said. He said that the victim had pre-existing medical conditions that may have contributed to the severity of the illness. He said Greenlee is following a nationwide trend of experiencing a flu outbreak and most illness is presumed to be swine flu. Health officials in Arizona are having a difficult time pinning down the actual number of swine flu cases because tests for H1NI are presently being conducted only on persons who are hospitalized.

Governors of at least two states in the eastern U.S. have declared states of emergency due to the swine flu. The availability of vaccine has been limited in many areas across the U.S. It has only recently become available in Greenlee where vaccination clinics are presently being conducted by Gila Health Resources in Morenci and by the Greenlee Health Department.

Nationally, vaccination efforts are being met with strong skepticism and what in many cases appears to outright fear because the vaccine is new. Many critics say they believe the vaccine has not been sufficiently tested for possible side effects.

Rutherford said the Health Department supports the Center for Disease Controls recommendation that everyone 6 months or older be vaccinated. Clinics at Gila Health and the Health Department are targeting higher risk groups. That includes pregnant women, preschool children, school-age students and caregivers of infants less than six months old.

Rutherford said those with chronic medical conditions such as lung, heart kidney and liver diseases, immune deficiencies and neurological illnesses should immediately seek medical care if they become ill.

Morenci Schools is only now recovering from a flu outbreak that health officials strongly feel involved swine flu. Two weeks ago Morenci Junior-Senior High School had 30 percent of its student population out with the flu. Fairbanks Elementary had about 25 percent of its students out. School officials are optimistic when they say the think they think the illness has peaked because far fewer students were been absent last week.

Greenlee's two other school districts, Duncan and Clifton, had only a few students staying home due to the flu at the time that Morenci was hard hit. There have not been any reports of recent flu outbreaks at Clifton or Duncan.