The total number of confirmed A/H1N1 flu cases in Canada has risen to 3,515, including four deaths, according to the latest figures released by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) on Friday.

Compared with the figure on Monday, 540 new cases were added during the past two days. The province of Ontario reported 219 new cases, bringing its total to 1,781, the most among the nine provinces and three territories that have reported infections.

Other provinces that are more seriously hit by the outbreak are Quebec with 706 cases, Saskatchewan with 270 cases and Alberta 240.

To date 182 hospitalizations and four deaths have been reported.

Meanwhile, the number of confirmed cases continued to rise in the aboriginal communities in the western province of Manitoba.

Overnight, the province saw 42 more confirmed cases, pushing the total number to 119. Half of the new cases are from the vast northern region that includes many aboriginal reserves.

Of the 24 people in intensive care due to flu in the province, two-thirds are aboriginal.

The World Health Organization has raised concerns about the situation in Canada's reserves while the country's chief public health officer said there was no evidence showing one particular ethnic group more liable to the virus than others.

The aboriginal leaders have blamed the spike in the numbers in their reserves on the lack of medical facilities as well as crowded living conditions for their residents.

The virus has also spread to the training academy of the country's national police, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). Three cadets have tested positive for the virus at the academy located in the western city of Regina, while at least 22 others are on quarantine with flu symptoms, a spokesman said on Friday.

(Xinhua News Agency June 13, 2009)