Stockholm, Aug 23 (Xinhua) European health officials Saturday reported 311 new swine flu cases in the region.

Of the new cases, 279 were confirmed in Italy, 26 in Switzerland, five in Slovakia and one in Slovenia, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said in its latest report.

The cumulative number of confirmed cases of the influenza A (H1N1) virus, also called swine flu, in the European Union (EU) and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries increased to 42,099, with 13,740 cases in Germany, 12,957 in Britain, 1,987 in Portugal, 1,538 in Spain and 1,473 in the Netherlands, the ECDC said.

The total number of fatal cases in Europe rose to 80, the ECDC added.

The ECDC publishes a daily situation report about the H1N1 flu cases in the EU and EFTA countries based on official information from these countries.