The Brazilian Health Ministry announced on Thursday 44 new confirmed cases of the A/H1N1 flu, bringing the total to 737 in the country.

The new cases are spread over seven states: 14 in Rio de Janeiro, nine in Grande do Sul, eight in Minas Gerais, six in Sao Paulo, two in Parana, two in Santa Catarina and three in the Federal District.

According to the ministry, most A/H1N1 flu patients in the country have recovered.

There are 1,049 suspected cases of the A/H1N1 flu in the country, the ministry said. These patients are being tested to determine whether they are infected or not.

Most Brazilian patients were infected during international trips, especially to Argentina, Chile, and the United States, but about 25 percent of them were victims of domestic transmission.

The ministry said that domestic transmission is restricted in Brazil, as all the patients infected within the country had direct contact with people infected during overseas trips.

The A/H1N1 flu has already killed one person in Brazil, a 29-year-old truck driver from Rio Grande do Sul state.

According to the World Health Organization, the A/H1N1 flu pandemic have so far killed 337 people in 121 nations and regions, and the number of the infected has exceeded 80,000.

(Xinhua News Agency July 3, 2009)