An Italian expert said on Monday that it will be inevitable for the swine flu to sooner or later spread to Italy, but there is no risk of a pandemic.

"There will not be a crisis because this is a 'normal' strain of the flu virus and different from the bird flu strain. Of course, the later it arrives the better," Genoa University virologist Pietro Crovari said.

Crovari made the remarks while Europe's first case of swine flu was confirmed in Spain, where 17 other suspected cases were found.

Italy currently has found one suspected case. A 31-year-old woman from the Veneto region has been in quarantine in a Venice hospital. The woman had returned from San Diego, in southern California near the Mexican border, with a high fever and was hospitalized as a precaution, according to ANSA news Agency.

A sample of her blood has been sent for testing at Padua University, which hosts Italy's top center for infectious diseases.

The outbreak of swine flu began in Mexico where 103 people have died so far and there are another 1,614 suspected cases.

The flu quickly spread to the United States, where some 20 suspected cases were found.

European Health Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou has called for an emergency meeting of European Union health ministers to monitor the situation and the Czech Republic, which holds the EU rotating presidency, has scheduled a meeting for Thursday.

Vassiliou said on Monday that the EU was ready to take "appropriate action" to avoid the spread of the flu.

According to Crovari, the virus in Mexico "appears to have mutated by 60-70 percent, but this is nothing new. This virus is an evolution of the H1N12 virus which was isolated in 1933".

The Italian health ministry has set up a crisis coordination center and is ready for examining a vaccination strategy.

At the EU level, checks on arriving passengers have been stepped up at airports to identify anyone with flu symptoms, while EU health ministries are pooling information on suspected cases and vaccine stocks.

Europeans have also been advised to avoid traveling to areas where swine flu cases have been reported. So far, four suspected cases in France and one in Britain have proved negative.