Ecuadorian Public Health Ministry on Sunday confirmed two new cases of the new influenza A/H1N1 flu strain, both in western city Guayaquil, raising the total number of infected in Ecuador to 12.

The first case is a child who was infected with the virus via contact with an existing confirmed flu sufferer. The child is at home and responding to antiviral treatment, the ministry said. The second new case is an adult who returned from the US city of Miami on May 12, and presented symptoms six days later. He is not seriously ill.

Also on Sunday, the ministry's Emergency Operations Committee called on students not to attend classes if they are suffering symptoms of influenza, which include headaches, high temperature, breathing difficulties and muscle pains, adding that educational establishments are obliged to send them home if they do so.

The committee has already ordered and eight-day closure of public areas, including sports clubs, swimming pools and parks, in the neighborhoods where confirmed flu sufferers live. It has also called on citizens to avoid crowded places and to spend as little time as possible in malls, cinemas and public events.

It has also urged citizens to avoid traveling to the United States and other nations where the virus is spreading at an accelerated pace.

(Xinhua News Agency May 25, 2009)