A third patient in the Netherlands infected by a mutant strain of the swine flu virus has died, the country's health and environment institute said Tuesday.
The Netherlands has seen eight cases of the mutated A(H1N1) virus, including the three fatalities, but the strain is not spreading, the institute said.
"(The latest fatality) was an adult woman who was already ill," institute spokesman Harold Wychgel said, without giving the date of her death.
"She had been treated for flu for some time and during treatment built up a resistance to Tamiflu," one of the main anti-flu drugs, he said.
"There is no cause for panic."
A total of 42 people have died in the Netherlands after contracting the H1N1 virus, and nearly 2,000 have been hospitalised since April.
France, Spain and Norway have all reported deaths related to the mutated form of the virus.
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