Global swine flu death toll reaches 3,200

Alberta authorities said Friday the virus was detected in a woman, aged around 30, who died in late April, the CBC television channel reported. However, as the woman had previous health conditions, it could not be said with certainty 'to which degree H1N1 contributed to her death,' Andre Corriveau, a senior Alberta health official, said.

The number of laboratory-confirmed infections of the new influenza strain in humans to more than 3,200 cases in 27 countries.

On Saturday, Japan confirmed three cases of swine-flu infections in a high-school teacher and two students who returned to Japan from an excursion in Canada on a flight via the United States.

'The conditions of the three patients have remained stable,' a Japanese health official was quoted as saying Saturday by Kyodo News Agency.

A woman who arrived back in Australia on a flight from Los Angeles to Brisbane last week has been confirmed as the country's first swine-flu case.

Queensland health authorities said the woman tested 'weak positive' for the H1N1 virus and has already recovered.

The number of human swine influenza cases in the United States increased to 1,639 on Friday, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said, surpassing Mexico's total for the first time.

As the figure nearly doubled overnight, the CDC said that most of the surge was attributable to increased testing capabilities as well as the continued transmission of the virus.

The World Health Organization said Mexico had 1,204 confirmed human cases of infection, including 42 deaths. Canada reported 214 infections and one death.

Meanwhile, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said that while countries had the right to put people in quarantine to prevent the spread of a virus, they had to do so within the rules of international law on discrimination.