Earlier, the swine flu scare was confined to Pune after the first Indian victim of the disease last week.

There have been two deaths in Mumbai, and one each in Nashik, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Vadodara, Chennai and Thiruvananthapuram.

The scare of an epidemic outbreak is spreading fast in India.

The constant updates on the spread of the disease on TV news channels have, in the views of the information and broadcasting ministry, aggravated the sense of panic.

Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad recently said the government may set up a war room to deal with the viral disease.