A man has been confirmed to be infected with swine flu, the first confirmed case of the epidemic in Spain, the Health Ministry said on Monday.

The man has just returned from Mexico, where the virus has killed 103 people and put 1,614 suspected cases under observation.

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

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced Saturday that the outbreak in Mexico and the United States constituted a "public health emergency of international concern."

(Xinhua News Agency April 27, 2009)