VIENNA - AUSTRIA'S health ministry confirmed the country's 15th case of H1N1 flu on Tuesday, in a young man who recently returned from Argentina.

The man, from the southern town of Graz, had checked himself into hospital with typical flu symptoms but was later found to be infected with the H1N1 virus, the ministry told the Austria Press Agency.

He was currently recovering, it added.

Over 100 suspected cases of swine flu have been recorded in Austria since late April but only 15 have been confirmed by further tests. Most of the people had recently returned from trips abroad, where they were believed to have caught the virus.

All patients in Austria have so far recovered and no deaths have been reported.

The latest global figures issued by the World Health Organisation on Monday gave the number of recorded swine flu cases as 70,893 worldwide, with 311 deaths, since the outbreak started in late March. -- AFP