Brazil's Health Ministry announced on Monday that the country has registered a total of 625 confirmed A/H1N1 flu cases instead of the previously announced 627.

The confusion was due to some cases being registered twice in the ministry's database, the ministry said.

The H1N1 flu virus has invaded 21 of Brazil's 26 states, as well as the Federal District, and almost half of the confirmed cases were registered in Sao Paulo state.

Most of the patients caught A/H1N1 flu during international trips, mostly to Argentina, the United States and Chile, while about 25 percent of them got infected in Brazil.

The Health Ministry stressed, though, that so far there is no evidence that the A/H1N1 flu virus is circulating in the country. According to the ministry, all patients who caught the flu on Brazilian territory had direct contact with someone infected abroad.

The ministry also stated there are currently 673 suspected cases of A/H1N1 flu in Brazil, and 933 cases have already been ruled out.

On Sunday, Brazil registered the first death from A/H1N1 flu, which was a 29-year-old truck driver, Vanderlei Vial, from Passo Fundo, in southern Rio Grande do Sul state. Vial caught the disease during a trip to Argentina, and died 13 days after showing the first symptoms.

Health authorities are also investigating the death of a US citizen occurring Friday, also in Rio Grande do Sul state. The results of the patient's autopsy will be known Tuesday.

According to Health Minister Jose Gomes Temporao, most of the cases registered in Brazil are not serious, and A/H1N1 flu's lethality is low in the country.

He stressed the government is taking all necessary steps to prevent the virus from spreading in the country.

(Xinhua News Agency June 30, 2009)