The swine flu Wednesday tightened its grips as the first confirmed swine flu death outside Mexico was reported and the sickened number kept climbing across the world.

A 23-month-old Mexican boy visiting Texas has died of the H1N1 flu strain in the first confirmed swine flu death outside Mexico.

Meanwhile, Germany and Austria announced their first confirmed cases of swine flu, taking to nine the number of countries known to be affected.

Austria's Health Ministry on Wednesday confirmed the country's first case of swine flu after completing virological tests.

The 28-year-old woman, now in quarantine in a Vienna hospital, visited her parents in Guatemala and traveled from Mexico City over Miami and Dusseldorf to Vienna.

Germany has confirmed three cases of swine flu. The three patients -- two women and a man -- had recently returned from Mexico, where the outbreak of swine flu is believed to have originated.

Mexico's health officials said on Wednesday that a further 17 suspected swine flu deaths were reported, adding to the previous suspected death toll of 159. The country has so far registered 99 confirmed swine flu cases, and eight of the confirmed cases have already died.

Canada on Wednesday confirmed its first human-to-human spread of swine flu infection, as the country' s total cases has risen to19. Three new cases were reported both in the provinces of British Columbia and Ontario.

There were 13 confirmed cases of swine flu and 104 suspected cases in New Zealand, Health Minister Tony Ryall said on Thursday.

"The growth in suspect numbers is primarily from close family contacts from passengers on flights," Ryall told a press conference in Wellington. He added that the 13 confirmed cases were all in the Auckland area.

The confirmed swine flu cases also rose by six in Spain, lifting the total infected to 10, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday.

An additional 53 with symptoms were waiting to be confirmed, the ministry added.

The Colombian government said on Wednesday that the number of suspected swine flu cases has reached 49 and 10 of them have high possibilities of being infected with the virus.

Colombian Social Protection Minister Diego Palacio said it will take two or three weeks to know if the patients have the virus.

As the swine flu situation is continuing to worsen, the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday raised the pandemic alert level to Phase 5, indicating that a pandemic is imminent.

"Influenza pandemics must be dealt with seriously and precisely because of their capacity to spread rapidly to every country in the world," said WHO Director-General Margaret Chan at a teleconference for the media.

This has been the second raise of the WHO's pandemic alert system in three days, indicating the quick worsening of the global swine flu situation.

(Xinhua News Agency April 30, 2009)