Thirteen people have now died in the state of San Luis Potosi (SLP), in central Mexico, of a disease likely to be the new strain of A/H1N1 swine flu in the nation, the regional governor told media on Wednesday.

Governor Medical Marcelo de los Santos said that medical centers in the state, the second worst hit after Mexico City, are treating 34 people seriously ill with high fever, headaches, severe breathing problems and muscular pains: the symptoms associated with A/H1N1. A further 32 people are in hospital but in a stable state, and 21 were treated but released.

Despite their symptoms, it cannot be said definitively that all the 100 SLP flu sufferers were infected with A/H1N1 swine flu until state hospitals receive confirmation from federal government laboratories, the governor said.

The government's most recent report says that 159 people have died of symptoms consistent with the new viral strain, but only seven of these are confirmed A/H1N1 cases. Due to a testing bottleneck another 152 remain to be confirmed.

(Xinhua News Agency April 30, 2009)