PHOENIX -- A woman in Arizona suffering from a lung condition has become the fourth person in the nation to die from the H1N1 flu, county health officials said on Thursday.

The name of the victim, who died last week, was not immediately released. She was in her late 40s and lived in maricopa County, health officials said.

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"Unfortunately, we knew this was coming," said Dr. Bob England, director of Maricopa Department of Public Health. "Flu is serious, especially for those with underlying health conditions."

England said the case marks the first death in Arizona associated with the new flu strain.

Arizona has confirmed 240 cases ofH1N1 flu; 151 of those have been confirmed in Maricopa County.

"I need to emphasize that this death does not change our course of action here in Maricopa County," England said.

Will Humble, acting director of the Arizona Department of Health Services, said while this marks the first death in the state related to the H1N1 flu, the case counts are expected to continue rising for some time to come. "And while most illnesses from this new flu strain have been fairly mild, we must remember that influenza claims about 36,000 lives every year nationwide, he said."

Nationally, there have been more than 6,497 confirmed cases of swine flu in 33 countries. There have been 64 deaths in Mexico, four U.S. deaths and one each in Canada and Costa Rica.

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