The Ministry of Public Health said, that a total of 74 people have died of swine flu in Ecuador.

Besides, the country has also seen 691 cases of swine flu in 2016, the ministry said on Thursday.

This number of victims is still lower than that for the same period in 2013 when an AH1N1 epidemic had left 114 dead.

The virus usually attacks the respiratory tract and causes fever, headaches, bone and muscle pain and intense coughing.

In May, the government also bought 300,000 doses of flu vaccine, which are mainly being distributed in the coastal provinces of Manabi and Esmeraldas, which were severely affected by the April 16 earthquake.