The first death in Morocco from the influenza-type virus was reported by local media on Wednesday, since when anxious rumours have spread on social media. "Vigilant efforts continue to detect possible cases in different hospitals across the kingdom," said government spokesman Mustapha Khalfi. H1N1 is a respiratory disease contracted through contact between humans and pigs and transmitted between people through inhalation.
A major H1N1 outbreak sparked a World Health Organization pandemic alert in June 2009. It killed around 18,500 people in 214 countries before the alert was lifted in August 2010.