Fourteen people are now confirmed to have died in Russia from swine flu, Deputy Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova said on Tuesday.

She said that a total of 3,122 cases of the A(H1N1) virus had been recorded so far in Russia, although only 1,200 were currently ill with the rest having recovered, Russian news agencies reported.

The Russian authorities until last month boasted that the country remained relatively unaffected by the virus and urged citizens to take strict precautions when travelling abroad.

But now the disease appears to be spreading fast across the vast country, which has borders with countries including EU states and China. Russia confirmed its first swine flu deaths on October 27.

More than 5,700 people have died of swine flu worldwide since A(H1N1) was first uncovered in April, with most of the deaths recorded in the Americas, according to the World Health Organisation.