Serbian authorities decided on Tuesday to extend the autumn school holidays to stop an outbreak of the swine flu epidemic, a minister said.

- I decided this morning to prolong the school holidays ... until Wednesday - November 11, Education Minister Zarko Obradovic told B92 radio.

The announcement came as most of the 35 new cases confirmed since last week appeared to be school-age children.

Serbia has so far confirmed 169 cases of swine flu, but the real number is feared to be much higher as several schools were shut down and visits to several hospitals throughout the country were forbidden due to the flu surge.

A 46-year-old woman who died in the central town of Kragujevac last month was Serbia's first reported death from swine flu.

More than 5,700 people have died of swine flu worldwide since it was first uncovered in April, according to the World Health Organisation.

Slovenian health authorities meanwhile announced Tuesday the first swine flu death in the former Yugoslav republic.

The patient, a woman in her fifties who was chronically ill, was hospitalized on Friday. Her condition had been critical since Monday, Slovenian media reported.

- The cause of death were complications of her chronical illness caused by the swine flu infection - a Ljubljana's hospital spokesman was quoted as saying to Internet news channel 24ur.