India's swine flu toll jumps to 329

Thirteen swine flu deaths, 10 in Maharashtra alone, were reported on Thursday in the country, taking the total toll to 329, health authorities said in New Delhi.

Thirteen swine flu deaths, 10 in Maharashtra alone, were reported on Thursday in the country, taking the total toll to 329, health authorities said in New Delhi.

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Also, a record 142 fresh cases were reported in the country, taking the number of people affected with the flu to 10,375.

While three deaths were reported from Maharashtra, that tops the chart of recording the maximum deaths in the country Thursday, seven deaths that had occurred earlier were found to be due to the contagious virus, health authorities said. The seven deaths in the state were reported between Sep 26 to 29.

"The laboratory confirmation came Thursday, which showed that all these deaths were because of the flu," an official said.

With these ten deaths, the toll in the state has gone up to 130 - the highest in the country.

In Andhra Pradesh, two people died due to the flu, taking the total toll in the southern state to 36. The two people had died Wednesday, but laboratory confirmation came on Thursday.

One death was also reported in the Indian capital. With this, the toll in the state state has gone up to 14.

Three suspected deaths were also reported from Gujarat, but officials said they are awaiting the laboratory reports for confirmation.

"Till date, samples from 43,421 people have been tested for Influenza A (H1N1) in government laboratories and a few private laboratories across the country and 10,375 of them have been found positive," a statement issued here said.

The national capital reported the maximum fresh cases Thursday. A total of 39 people were tested positive for the flu in Delhi, followed by Maharashtra where 35 people were detected with the virus.

The other states were - Tamil Nadu (18), Karnataka (12), Haryana (12), Andhra Pradesh (10), Kerala (9), Uttar Pradesh (6) and Gujarat (1).