THE county has recorded its first ever reported death from swine flu (H1N1).

Herefordshire Council has revealed that one of its own employees died at Hereford Hospital yesterday after contracting the disease.

The patient, who has not been named, had previous underlying health problems and residents are reassured that the risk to others is low.

Dr Sarah Aitken, director of public health for Herefordshire, said: “I would like to reassure people in Herefordshire that the risk to them is low and the primary care trust, the council and other agencies have well prepared plans to manage swine flu in this county.”

“However, we are repeating our plea for all people in the community who have long term health problems and are ‘at risk’ of complications from swine flu to contact their GP and get their free flu vaccine, which protects them against H1N1.”