A European health agency said Thursday that 1,204 new A/H1N1 flu cases were reported in European countries within the last 24 hours.

Of the new cases, 879 were confirmed in Germany, 91 in France, 44 in Sweden, 34 in Denmark, 27 in Malta, 26 in Switzerland, 23 in the Czech Republic, 18 respectively in Romania and Norway, 15 in Portugal, 11 in Finland, eight in Slovenia, five in Hungary, four in Poland, one in Bulgaria, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said in its daily situation report.

Belgium reported the first fatal case, the statement added.

The total number of the confirmed cases of the H1N1 flu virus in the European Union (EU) and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries rose to 24,021, with 1,538 cases in Spain and 11,159 in Britain, 719 in France and 5,324 in Germany, the ECDC said.

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 July 31, 2009)