Egypt reported five more A/H1N1 flu cases at a dorm of the American University in Cairo (AUC), bringing the number of the influenza cases to eight in the country, the World Health Organization (WHO)'s Cairo-based regional office said on Tuesday.

"Today (Tuesday), Egypt's health authority identified five more cases... in the AUC's dormitory," where two cases were detected a day earlier, Dr. Hassan el-Boshra, adviser for communicable disease at WHO's Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, said without elaborating.

Egypt reported Monday two A/H1N1 flu cases, both of whom were 23-year-old students coming from the United States, at the AUC's dormitory on Zamalek island in Cairo.

Both of them arrived in Cairo on May 28 and showed symptoms on June 5.

Dr. Hassan said it is "possible" that they might have spread the novel disease during the latent period.

"They might have transmitted the virus to other people in the community," he said, adding that "the possibility of more cases could not be ruled out."

The health ministry said Monday it will quarantine the dorm for seven days, which involves 110 students and 124 teachers.

On June 2, Egypt reported its first A/H1N1 influenza case, who was a 12-year-old Egyptian-American girl coming from the United States via Holland.

Egypt, the most populous Arab country that was hit hard by the fatal bird flu in 2006, decided in late April to cull all the pigs in the country to stem the highly infectious flu.

Worldwide, at least 25,288 people in 73 countries have been confirmed to be infected with the A/H1N1 flu virus, the latest WHO tally shows on Monday.

Updating its tally three times a week, the WHO on Monday added 14 more death cases, raising the total number to 139.

(Xinhua News Agency June 10, 2009)