Brazil's Health Ministry confirmed on Tuesday 94 new cases of A/H1N1 flu, bringing the country's total number of infections to 334.

Fifty of the newly-confirmed cases are from Sao Paulo state. There are also 17 new cases in Minas Gerais state, 13 in Rio de Janeiro, four in Santa Catarina, two each in the states of Bahia, Espirito Santo and Parana, and one each in the states of Alagoas, Goias, Rio Grande do Sul, and Sergipe.

The ministry also said that there are 218 suspected cases of the disease in Brazil. Tests are being carried out in order to determine whether those patients are really infected.

The increase in the number of A/H1N1 flu cases has already caused the suspension of classes in several schools across Brazil, as well as in one of the campuses of the Sao Paulo State University (Unesp).

The small town of Sao Gabriel, in southern Rio Grande do Sul state, has declared a state of emergency after 17 suspected cases were detected. All school classes were suspended in the town, and public events such as musical concerts have been forbidden.

Meanwhile, Brazil's mining giant Vale has put 90 employees in quarantine after a worker was diagnosed with A/H1N1 flu.

Earlier on Tuesday, Brazil's Health Minister Jose Gomes Temporao recommended that Brazilians postpone any trips to Argentina and Chile due to the increase in the number of cases in those countries. Almost half of the 160 flu patients in Sao Paulo state caught the disease while traveling to those countries.

(Xinhua News Agency June 24, 2009)