Mumbai/Pune, Aug 6 - Swine flu continues to spread in Maharashtra with 30 new cases reported till Thursday morning, raising the total to 172, a senior health official said.

'Nine new cases have been detected in Pune, and four in Mumbai, including a senior state civil servant,' Pradeep Awate, head of the Swine Flu Control Room, told IANS.

Among the victims who tested positive is State Excise Commissioner I.S. Chahal, he said.

Chahal had returned from a trip to Britain recently and had complained of swine-flu type symptoms and tested positive at Kasturba Hospital late Wednesday night.

In Pune, two girls from St. Annes High School -- where the first fatal victim of swine-flu Reeda Shaikh studied -- have tested positive, while another girl has been quarantined in Naidu Hospital for suspected H1N1, Awate added.