ALGIERS, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) -- The H1N1 influenza has killed 21 people in Algeria, a local health official said on Tuesday .

"Our services confirmed that as many as 21 people aged between 4 and 65 were killed by swine flu virus of H1N1," Djamel Fourar, Director of Prevention at Health Ministry, was quoted as saying by state TV.

In December, Minister of Health Mokhtar Hasbellaoui denied the existence of any confirmed H1N1 case, but in January the Pasteur Institute of Algiers (IPA) announced 35 cases of H1N1 were confirmed.