The southern state of Karnataka reported 11 fresh cases, taking the total number of people infected with the disease to 441 - the third highest in the country. India's first case was reported in the state May 16.

Other fresh cases were reported from Tamil Nadu (15), Uttar Pradesh (7) and Kerala (5). Both Haryana and West Bengal had two cases each, while Goa, Uttarakhand, Mizoram and Rajasthan had one case respectively.

The union health ministry, which is planning guidelines for selling the anti-influenza drug Tamiflu in the open market in another 10 days, said many steps were being taken to contain the disease.

'So far, 21,937 people have been tested for influenza A (H1N1) in various government laboratories across the country and 3,987 of them have been found positive,' a statement issued here said.

The officials said that of the total samples that were tested, 4.5 percent were those that were detected at the 22 airports.