The spectre of mounting swine flu losses continues in the country as the toll crossed the 1,400- mark today with 41 more deaths even as Assam registered its first casualty from the H1N1 virus, which has affected more than 25,000 people.

The Union Health Ministry said that, as on March 8, 1,401 persons had fallen prey to swine flu with the number of affected persons at 25,681.

According to the ministry’s data, the highest number of deaths due to swine flu – 342 – has been reported in Gujarat which has registered 5,623 cases of the disease.

Rajasthan is the second in terms of the casualties as it has seen 330 deaths with the number of cases reported in the desert state being 5,994.

The H1N1 virus claimed its first victim in Assam, where a 59-year-old man died last night at the Jorhat Medical College Hospital, which has seen four others also testing positive for the disease, local health officials said. Altogether, there have been 10 cases of the H1N1 virus so far in Assam.

The number of deaths in Maharashtra is 215 while that of those affected is 2,592 followed by Madhya Pradesh with 194 deaths and 1,505 reported cases of swine flu.

Delhi, which has so far seen 10 swine flu deaths (of only residents of the national capital) has clocked a rise in the number of persons affected by the disease, which now stands at 3,527.

In Karnataka, as many as 1,707 people have been affected by swine flu while the death toll has reached 55. In Telangana, 1,801 persons have been affected while the number of casualties is 63.

In Kashmir, the toll stands at 11 while Kerala has seen nine deaths.

In Haryana, 27 people have died while the disease has claimed 49 lives in the neighbouring state of Punjab.

In Uttar Pradesh, swine flu has killed 16 people while an equal number of people have lost their lives to the disease in Andhra Pradesh.

In West Bengal, the swine flu has claimed 14 lives and 12 persons have perished due to it in Tamil Nadu.

As per the Health Ministry, there were a total of 27,236 cases of swine flu in the country in 2009 with the number of casualties touching 981.

In 2010, the toll was 1,763 while the number of affected persons was 20,604. 2011 had witnessed 75 deaths and there were 405 deaths in 2012, the ministry said.