The death of an Edmonton area woman with chronic pre-existing medical conditions has been confirmed as the second in Alberta associated with H1N1 flu.

It is not clear what role the H1N1 virus played in the death of the middle-aged woman, said Dr. Andre Corriveau, Alberta's chief medical officer of health on Monday.

"The sad and stark reality is that we expect that we will see other deaths associated with H1N1," Dr. Corriveau said.

Privacy concerns prevent the release of more details surrounding this latest death, he said.

Dr. Andre Corriveau, Alberta's chief medical officer of health, talks with reporters on Monday. (CBC)

"It was actually somebody who was living temporarily in another jurisdiction and then was sent back here where she died but she actually got sick in that other jurisdiction," Corriveau said.

Twenty-seven new cases of swine flu were reported in Alberta this past weekend, which brings the total number of cases to 1098, he said.

In most cases, people are dealing with only mild flu symptoms, Corriveau said.

On May 8, a northern Alberta woman was confirmed as the first person in Canada whose death was associated with swine flu. At the time, health officials said the woman had chronic pre-existing health problems and had not travelled to Mexico.

"Alberta, like all jurisdictions across the country, remains vigilant in tracking the progress of the H1N1 virus," Corriveau said.

Every year 4,000 Canadians die from the flu and a high percentage of them have underlying conditions that play a large part in making them susceptible to serious consequences when they get the flu, he said.