A 26-year-old Israeli man was hospitalized on Sunday in Netanya after returning from Mexico with signs of swine flu, local news service Ynet reported.

The man has been isolated and doctors are trying to determine whether he has been infected with the swine flu virus, which has led to the death of dozens of people in Mexico, said the report.

Earlier Sunday, Israeli Foreign Ministry asked Israelis who are visiting or planning to visit Mexico to adhere to Israeli Health Ministry's instructions in order to avoid and minimize the risk of swine flu.

With the potentially deadly virus running rampant through Mexico, Israeli Health Ministry posted a set of precautionary measures on its website, as well as briefed local hospitals on treatment protocols in case of an outbreak in Israel.

The recommendations include maintaining personal hygiene, avoiding restaurants exhibiting questionable sanitary standards and most importantly, avoiding mass public gatherings as much as possible.

"There is no reason to panic," said Itamar Grotto, head of Israeli Health Ministry's Public Health Department. "We have to keep a close eye on things......We have plenty of Tamiflu (the drug used to treat avian and swine flu) and it can be distributed to hospitals in a matter of hours."

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak in Mexico and the United States a "public health emergency of international concern" and urged all countries to keep a close watch for outbreaks of influenza-like illness.

Some affected in Mexico have tested positive for a strain, H1N1,and 11 people in the United States had been infected by the virus, according to the WHO.

Swine flu is a respiratory disease that infects pigs and does not normally infect humans. But sporadic cases do occur, usually for people who have had close contact with pigs.

(Xinhua News Agency April 27, 2009)