Sri Lankan health authorities said Tuesday that three more A/H1N1 flu cases have been confirmed in the country, bring the total number of A/H1N1 patients to 86.

The Epidemiological Unit of the Health Ministry said in its latest report that the new patients have arrived form Malaysia and India.

Health officials said about 90 percent of the patients contracted the disease abroad, while 10 percent of them contracted in Sri Lanka.

They said most of the patients are Sri Lankan citizens working abroad.

The first case of A/H1N1 flu in the island was reported on June16 with the patient being an eight-year-old boy coming from Australia.

Officials from the Health Ministry said there is no reason to be panic as the government has already initiated a surveillance program at the main entry points to the country.

The government also said 20 hospitals had been identified as sentinel hospitals for pandemic influenza preparedness.

Clinical case management capacity in these hospitals had been strengthened by establishing / upgrading isolation units and supply of antiviral drug stocks.

(Xinhua News Agency September 2, 2009)