The Colombian government on Sunday confirmed the first case of new strain influenza A/H1N1 flu is a man of 42 who had recently returned from Mexico, and is now in a stable condition.

The man is one of 18 people suffering symptoms consisted with the flu, having been found in Zipaquira, close to Colombia's capital, Bogota, the nation's public protection minister Diego Palacio told media.

"We have sent 18 samples to a laboratory in Atlanta to establish the presence of the virus in our nation, and of these, one is positive," he said. The minister said the patient had been sent home and called for calm so that the person doesn't suffer stigmatism, which could spread to the city and then to the whole nation.

The patient "had been in Mexico and has visited a hospital where he has been given medical advice," said Palacio, adding that several laboratories across the world had offered to help analyze samples from patients with suspected H1N1 flu virus, previously called swine flu until the World Health Organization called for a name change.

(Xinhua News Agency May 4, 2009)