New Delhi, Aug 5 - Twenty-three new cases of swine flu were reported from across India Wednesday, including a Malaysian student, as the infectious virus spread to small cities and took the total number of people infected with the disease to 597.

According to the health ministry, '22 laboratory-confirmed cases have been reported today: Delhi (5), Gurgaon (3), Mumbai (4) Pune (3), Bangalore (1), Hyderabad (1), Kolkata (1), Mangalore (1), Jamshedpur (1), Chennai (1), Hoshiarpur (1) and Gurdaspur (1).

'Of the 596 positive cases, 482 have been discharged. One case has died. Rest of them remain admitted to the identified health facility,' the ministry said.

The one life the virus has claimed in India was Rida Shaikh, 14-year-old schoolgirl who died in Pune Monday.

The ministry noted that though many people opted for the swine flu virus test, 'testing will be done at the discretion of the doctors at the designated government hospitals. There is no shortage of testing materials and adequate care has been taken to ensure future supplies of testing materials.'

In Delhi, of the five new cases four have contracted the disease without any travel history. The fifth is a 19-year-old girl who travelled from Singapore. In three cases in Gurgaon, two are school contacts and the third is a 31-year-old woman who travelled from Bangkok and was found to be symptomatic at the airport screening at Delhi.

The case in Mangalore is a 21-year-old Malaysian female student who travelled from Kuala Lumpur to Bangalore and then traveled further to Mangalore. She developed symptoms on Aug 2 and was admitted at an identified health facility.