MONTREAL - CANADA has reported four new H1N1 flu deaths, bringing the country's toll to 31.

Two of the latest fatalities were reported on Friday in Manitoba province, with the third confirmed in Ontario and the fourth in Quebec, which has recorded 14 H1N1 flu deaths so far, making it Canada's worst affected province.

The latest figures released by Canada's public health agency showed there are 8,563 laboratory-confirmed cases of the A(H1N1) infections throughout the country, including 661 cases that required hospitalization.

Death tolls from swine flu continue to grow throughout the Americas - where the virus first emerged at the end of April, before spreading around the world - with Chile's Health Ministry most recently announcing its toll stood at 16 deaths and 8,160 cases of infection.

In Brazil, which has so far confirmed 756 A(H1N1) cases, a group of well-known actors and entertainers were meanwhile placed in quarantine after one of them contracted the virus.

Worldwide, the virus has infected 89,921 people in 125 countries and territories and caused 382 deaths, according to the latest figures released by the World Health Organization.

The global health agency held a special summit on the pandemic in Cancun, Mexico that closed on Friday amid concerns over whether developing countries would be able to afford a future H1N1 flu vaccine. -- AFP