The total confirmed A/H1N1 flu cases in Canada rose to 201 on Wednesday, as the country's scientists announced a major breakthrough in the study of the new virus by completing its genetic sequencing for the first time in the world.

A total of 36 new cases were added across the country on Wednesday, with all being mild, according to the latest figures released by the Public Health Agency of Canada on Wednesday afternoon.

With two schools already shut down in the western province of British Columbia, authorities on Wednesday ordered the closure of a third one after almost one-third of students and staff there showed flu symptoms. It remains unclear whether there are any A/H1N1 infections.

The Vancouver Island Health Authority said that none of the students at Hans Helgesen Elementary School in Metchosin has confirmed cases of the A/H1N1 virus, and the decision to keep students at home comes as a precaution.

Canada also responded quickly to a WHO official warning against eating the pork from pigs infected with the A/H1N1 flu virus, as its agriculture minister and top veterinary officer both emphasized that Canadian pork is safe to eat.

Earlier in the day WHO's Department of Food Safety, Zoonoses and Foodborne Diseases told Reuters the blood and meat of pigs infected with the H1N1 flu virus may contain the virus. Jorgen Schlundt cautioned against eating meat from sick and dead pigs infected with swine flu since the virus might survive.

Dr. Brian Evans of Canadian Food Inspection Agency said the warning is redundant since Canada has never allowed sick pigs to enter the food chain.

Pigs that have recovered from the virus can go to market because they pose no threat to people, he said, adding Canada has no plan to cull about 200 pigs infected with the virus.

Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz turned up at a pork BBQ luncheon on Parliament Hill on Wednesday, stressing Canadian pork is safe while urging domestic consumers to eat more pork to help the struggling pork industry, hard-hit by bans from foreign countries following the outbreak.

Earlier on Wednesday, Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq announced that Canadian scientists have completed the genetic sequencing of the A/H1N1 flu viruses that have appeared in Mexico and Canada and confirmed that they are of the same strain.

This "significant milestone" will allow scientist to know "the epidemiology of the virus and the way it reacts, laying foundation for the development of a vaccine," Frank Plummer of the National Microbiology Laboratory told a news conference in Ottawa.

To confirm that the Mexican and Canadian virus samples are of the same strain has also eliminated a genetic mutation to explain why Mexican cases of the virus have been more severe than in other countries.

"We are continuing our analysis, but essentially what it appears to suggest is that there is nothing at the genetic level that differentiates this virus that we've got from Mexico and those from Nova Scotia and Ontario that explains the apparent differences in disease severity between Mexico and Canada and the United States," said Plummer.

Scientists cannot yet say why the cases in Mexico have been much more severe than elsewhere, but one theory is that the patients had underlying medical conditions that increased their susceptibility to the virus.

(Xinhua News Agency May 7, 2009)