MEXICO CITY - THE flu epidemic in Mexico appears to be 'in a stabilisation phase,' Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova said on Saturday, but he warned the country was not out of the woods yet.

'It would be hasty to say we have passed the most difficult moment, but I believe we have enough elements to say that we are in a stabilisation phase,' he told a news conference.

Mr Cordova said Mexico's death toll from the H1N1 virus was unchanged from Friday at 16, but that lab tests on a backlog of patients samples had found 46 more cases bringing the total infected cases to 427.

'As of last night (Friday) we had 1,105 molecular tests processed. We have 443 positive cases, and of those 427 are living patients and 16 are deceased patients,' he said. -- AFP