Health Minister Rosario Turner said on Wednesday that Panama has confirmed 10 more cases of H1N1 flu, bringing the country's total to 39, the highest in Central America.

Another 25 suspected cases are being tested, the minister said.

Among the 39 confirmed cases, he said, two have been hospitalized and others were quarantined at home.

All but one of the confirmed infections occurred in the capital city, where four schools with confirmed cases have been closed.

A 20-year-old man who returned home from the southern US state of Arkansas was confirmed on April 8 as Panama's first person infected with the novel H1N1 flu virus. Nearly half of the confirmed cases had come into contact with the young man.

So far no H1N1 flu-related deaths have been reported in Panama.

(Xinhua News Agency May 14, 2009)