The death toll of swine flu victims in Mexico rose by two to 68, health officials said Saturday.
Authorities said they confirmed that two people who died on May 2 and 12 respectively were killed by the A(H1N1) virus, the health ministry said in a statement.
One victim was from Mexico City and the other from the northern state of Baja California.
The ministry added that the number of other people who have contracted swine flu in Mexico rose by more than three dozen, to 3,034 people, but that the rate of new A(H1N1) cases continues to decrease.
Among those killed by the virus, only five had symptoms that appeared after April 23, when Mexican authorities realized the type of virus they were facing, the statement read.
Health authorities say that they are on the path to controlling the outbreak.
If the virus "is dealt with on time, usually it is curable," the statement read.
Prior to the updated Mexican figures, the World Health Organization on Saturday said 36 countries have officially reported 8,451 cases of influenza A(H1N1) infection, nearly 1,000 more than on Friday.
Mexico was the epicenter of the A(H1N1) flu outbreak, with the highest national death toll.
{{/usCountry}}Mexico was the epicenter of the A(H1N1) flu outbreak, with the highest national death toll.
{{/usCountry}}The swine flu has killed five people in the United States, one in Canada and one in Costa Rica, local officials reported.