KIEV, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Ukraine confirmed its first death from H1N1 swine flu on Friday and officials said that a quarantine could be introduced to halt the spread of the virus.

An outbreak of flu and pneumonia has killed 30 people in western Ukraine since mid-October, but officials have until now insisted this was not the H1N1 strain.

"So far, not all the dead were tested (for H1N1)," a health ministry spokeswoman said. "However, tests on one dead (person) proved positive."

"We are considering a quarantine not only in the west, but also across the country because the virus is spreading very fast," Health Minister Vasyl Knyazevych told a news conference, without giving details. (Reporting by Pavel Polityuk, writing by Oleg Shchedrov; Editing by Dominic Evans)

AlertNet news is provided by