WASHINGTON - AMERICANS visiting violence-wracked Mexico this month for annual 'spring break' vacations should be safe as long as they don't stray from tourist resorts, a Republican lawmaker from Texas said on Monday.

Mexico's escalating drug feuds and mounting murders have worried some American students considering spending the customary spring exodus south of the border.

'Many places in Mexico are basically self-contained resort areas, where, frankly, you are not going to have a lot of interaction with people from the outside,' Senator John Cornyn told Fox News.

'My guess is, (the resorts) are probably a safer bet than some of the other areas,' he added.

As students prepare their annual spring break from studies, concerns have grown about the safety of popular Mexican getaways such as Cancun and Acapulco, which traditionally swarm with hedonistic students each March.

Senator Cornyn said he would warn prospective US tourists to be guided by US government advice on travel conditions.

The violence, which claimed the lives of 5,300 last year alone, 'could be a real threat to stability in (Mexico), and that would have grave consequences for the United States,' he added.

The US State Department reassured on Friday that despite previous warnings of Mexico's spiraling murder rates, much of the country remains unscathed by running battles between security forces and rival drug cartels.

In February, the State Department warned travellers of the risk posed by increased violence particularly along the US-Mexico border. But on Friday spokesman Gordon Duguid said violent activities are relatively confined.

'We notice that many of the violent activities are localised in several different places. They are not general across the north of Mexico, let alone through ... the entire country,' he said.

Violence is 'not systematic throughout the country,' Mr Duguid added. -- AFP