Assam: Swine flu claimed its first victim in Assam with the death of a 59-year-old man at Jorhat Medical College Hospital where four others have also tested positive.

An alert was sounded by the hospital after an employee of the Jorhat District Treasury office died due to swine flu on Sunday night, JMCH Superintendent Nilotpal Bhattacharya said on Monday.

The victim was being treated at the hospital since last one week. The report of the samples sent to Regional Medical Centre at Lahowal in Dibrugarh district testing positive came yesterday but he died late last night, he said.

While four more have tested positive, reports of as many are awaited, Bhattacharyya said as he urged people not to panic but to remain alert.

All staff, students, employees of JMCH have been requested to use masks and directed not to take leave until further orders.

An eight-bed isolation ward for swine flu has also been opened at the Medical College Hospital premises on Monday. Altogether ten people have tested positive for the virus in the state so far.

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