A European health agency said on Saturday that 311 new A/H1N1 flu cases were reported in European countries within the last 24 hours.

Of the new cases, 279 were confirmed in Italy, 26 in Switzerland, five in Slovakia and one in Slovenia, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said in its dailysituation report.

The cumulative number of confirmed cases of the A/H1N1 flu virus in the EU (European Union) and EFTA (European Free Trade Association) countries increased to 42,099,, with 13,740 cases in Germany, 12,957 in Britain, 1,987 in Portugal, 1,538 in Spain and 1,473 in Netherlands, the ECDC said.

The total number of fatal cases rose to 80, with one new fatal case from Spain, the ECDC added.

The ECDC publishes a daily situation report about the H1N1 flu cases in the EU and EFTA countries based on official information from these countries.

(Xinhua News Agency August 23, 2009)