Detailing the steps the government has taken to control the spread of the influenza A (H1N1) virus, union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad told the Rajya Sabha besides the 574 suspected carriers who had so far been tested, another 7,000 air passengers who were suspected to have travelled in their vicinity had been located through contact testing.

'Had we not contacted these 7,000 people and ensured that they were free of the disease, the number of cases might have been seven million because that is how fast it spreads,' Azad pointed out.

'WHO (World Health Organisation) threw up its hands July 6. We didn't, and are not going to. Today, one day and one month later, we are ahead of everyone in testing and tracing patients,' he said.

In this context, he noted that from just two laboratories, the number of testing centres has now been raised to 19.

Responding to a supplementary, Azad said each test costs a minimum of Rs.5,000 while for those that returned positive the cost was Rs.10,000.

'It takes a minimum of six hours for a test to return positive,' he added.