The number of A/H1N1 flu cases in Iraq increased to 58, including 38 cases detected among the Multi-National Forces in Iraq, an official Iraqi newspaper reported on Sunday.

"The total number of swine flu cases registered in the country climbed to 58 after detecting ten new cases for Iraqi students who returned from the United States where they studied," the state-run newspaper of al-Sabah quoted Ihsan Jaafar, spokesman of the Iraqi Health Ministry, as saying.

Jaafar confirmed that most of the epidemic cases in the country were among the American soldiers, and that only 20 cases were among Iraqis including nine in the autonomous region of Kurdistan, eight in Baghdad and one each in the provinces of Babel and Kirkuk.

The new patients are at hospital, receiving medication and their conditions are stable, he said.

Iraq announced its first six cases of A/H1N1 flu in the country's northern Kurdish region on June 24.

A/H1N1 influenza is a highly contagious acute respiratory disease with symptoms generally including upper respiratory problems, but the air-borne illness can cause severe pneumonia and even death.

(Xinhua News Agency August 3, 2009)