A Yolo County woman died Friday after being hospitalized at Woodland Memorial Hospital with the H1N1 – swine flu – virus.

She is the first person to die of swine flu in Yolo County, health officials said Saturday.

The Yolo County Coroner's Office identified the woman as Stacey Speegle Hernandez, 30, of Esparto.

Friends told The Bee that Speegle Hernandez was taken to the intensive care unit last week and kept on a ventilator for nine days after what seemed to be seasonal flu symptoms began to hamper her ability to breathe.

Yolo health officials issued a statement on the death Friday, confirming it was related to swine flu.

On Saturday, Yolo County health officer Dr. Joseph Iser said members of the woman's family were treated with Tamiflu as a preventive measure. Tamiflu is a drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat seasonal flu and has been found to help in certain cases of swine flu.

"Our hearts and sympathies go out to the victim's family," Iser said in a statement. "Her death is a sad reminder of the serious threat posed by the H1N1 flu virus."

H1N1 is a new strain that combines swine, human and bird flu viruses. It emerged from a rural Mexican village last winter and has spread around the world.

Speegle Hernandez's death is the sixth in the Sacramento region due to swine flu, with at least another 50 hospitalizations in Sacramento County since its appearance.

Iser said Speegle Hernandez's death was an isolated incident "and not related to any other illnesses or deaths in Yolo County."

Though Speegle Hernandez is the first to die from swine flu in Yolo County, officials were investigating another flu death.

Jennifer Lee Zeka, 40, a clerical worker at UC Davis' veterinary hospital, was found dead Monday at her Woodland apartment, according to the UC Davis swine flu Web site.

It was not known whether Zeka had the H1N1 virus, though John Madigan, the clinic's associate director, said she reported flu ailments before she died.

Because of the contagious nature of the circulating swine flu, as many as 95 percent of local flu cases are likely due to the H1N1 virus – even if they are not diagnosed as such – said Dr. Glennah Trochet, Sacramento County's public health officer.

In most cases, healthy people who come down with the virus have not displayed symptoms any more severe than they would from seasonal flu. Those with underlying health risks such as asthma and immune-system deficiencies are at greater risk.

Speegle Hernandez's family took her to Woodland Memorial with flu symptoms, friends and relatives said, but she was told she had the flu and was sent home.

"The next thing you know, an ambulance was here taking Stacey away because she couldn't breathe. It was so sudden," said Sherrie Barnett, a Madison resident and friend of Speegle Hernandez.

Barnett said Speegle Hernandez was always a healthy, "happy-go-lucky" person who had devoted most of her time and attention to her two children since the 2002 death of her husband in a car crash.

"She focused her whole life on those kids," Barnett said. "They loved her so much. I can't imagine what it's going to be like for them without her."

An aunt, Denise Speegle, said about 20 friends and relatives were with Speegle Hernandez when she died.

"Nobody thought this would happen. You get sick, you get better," Denise Speegle said. "Everybody is devastated. There's really no way to explain it."

The Yolo County Health Department issued a statement Friday reminding residents to take precautions against the virus, such as covering coughs and sneezes, washing hands often and avoiding close contact with apparently sick people.

A vaccine for swine flu is being developed and should be readily available by the end of the year, health officials have predicted. Seasonal flu vaccinations will be available to the public by the end of the month.

Call The Bee's Marissa Lang, (916) 321-1087.