A total of 5,206 people have contracted swine flu and undergone treatment as of Wednesday, the health ministry said.

The government has decided to appropriate 2.1 billion reais ($1.13 billion) for the purchase of vaccinations against swine flu, health officials said.

The funds will allow health officials to purchase 73 million doses of the vaccine, which will be administered during the first half of 2010 to deal with an expected outbreak of the disease during the southern hemisphere winter.