Teacher with swine flu dies in NY

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An assistant headteacher with swine flu has died in New York - the city's first death linked to the disease.

Mitchell Wiener, 55, was admitted to Flushing Hospital Medical Center a few days ago and died on Sunday night.

US authorities now believe there are more than 5,000 cases of swine flu in the country as a whole, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says more than half of the known cases worldwide are in the US.

Mitchell Wiener was the assistant principal at Intermediate School 238 in Queens - which was shut down on Thursday by officials trying to contain the virus.

He died despite being treated with an experimental drug, Ribavirin, after other antivirals failed to work, said hospital officials.

They said health complications suffered by Mr Wiener may have contributed to his death.

A top official has warned of a "rising tide" of flu in parts of the city.

But "nothing we've seen so far suggests that it's more dangerous to someone who gets it than the flu that comes every year", said city health commissioner Dr Thomas R Frieden, according to the New York Times.

Several schools in the city have now been closed as officials work to stem the spread of swine flu.