Lebanon confirms first 3 cases of H1N1 flu - sources

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon has identified its first confirmed three cases of the new H1N1 flu, the health minister said on Saturday.

"A week ago we had a certain situation that has been contained ... there is no virus in Lebanon as such, but there are three cases who came from abroad. One is Lebanese and two are not Lebanese," Health Minister Mohammad Khalifeh told a news conference.

Khalifeh said a group of Lebanese were attending a training seminar in Spain at an institute where the flu strain was later detected.

The group was quarantined for a week when they arrived in Beirut and one Lebanese man was discovered to have been infected but was now cured.

"This person was treated in the right way from the start ... the person can go home today," Khalifeh said.

The other two cases were Canadian citizens visiting Lebanon, Khalifeh said, adding that "the woman and child were on their way to being cured".

The World Health Organisation said on Friday that more than 15,500 cases of the new H1N1 flu had been reported worldwide including 99 deaths, most of them in Mexico.

Israel, which borders Lebanon to the south, has also confirmed cases of the H1N1 virus.

(Additional reporting by Laila Bassam)