Three new deaths from swine flu were reported Monday -- one in each Prairie province -- increasing the known number of people who have succumbed to the virus in Canada to 36.
Saskatchewan's third fatal flu case involved a child under 10.
Manitoba recorded its fifth death related to swine flu, an adult between 18 and 65.
Dr. Andre Corriveau, Alberta's chief medical health officer, reported that province's second swine flu fatality. The victim was a middle-aged woman who died June 30 in an Edmonton hospital after being transferred from another jurisdiction, which Corriveau refused to identify.
"Influenza causes deaths every year, so this influenza is not different in that way," he said. "And so we can expect to have more deaths."
Each of the three people who died was also suffering from other health problems.
Some news outlets were reporting that Manitoba's fifth victim was Perry Chernesky, 43, the pastor of the Oakbank Baptist Church outside Winnipeg.
Other reported deaths from swine flu include 14 in Quebec and 12 in Ontario.
