Brazil's Health Ministry confirmed on Tuesday 55 new cases of A/H1N1 flu in the country, raising the total number of the cases to 680.

Forty-five of the newly confirmed cases were reported in the country's southern border state of Rio Grande do Sul. Three cases were reported each in the states of Piaui and Santa Catarina and one case was reported each in the states of Alagoas, Parana and Sergipe as well as the Federal District, the ministry said.

The state of Rio Grande do Sul has recently registered a sharp increase in the number of A/H1N1 flu cases. It also reported the first death of the flu in the country last Sunday.

According to the Health Ministry, most of A/H1N1 flu patients in Brazil were infected during international trips. Some 235 patients caught the flu in Argentina, 81 got infected in the United States and 33 in Chile.

Although about a quarter of the total cases have been transmitted through domestic channel, the Health Ministry assured that the A/H1N1 flu virus is not circulating in the country.

(Xinhua News Agency July 1, 2009)