The new influenza virus, which has spread from Mexico to 40 other countries, moved nearer to the Philippines Wednesday after its northern neighbor, Taiwan, reported the island?s first confirmed case of swine flu.

The A(H1N1) virus continued to make inroads in Asia and Latin America on Wednesday, with the number of infections in Japan rising to 232 and the outbreak affecting a third western prefecture.

The Philippines remains free of the new flu virus, but health authorities are not taking any chances. The Department of Health (DoH) Wednesday ordered all government agencies to prepare for a flu outbreak in the country and draw up emergency measures.

The number of confirmed swine flu cases in the world passed the 10,000 mark Wednesday, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Confirmed infections in 41 countries have reached 10,243, mostly in the United States and Mexico, where the virus was first detected in April.

?There is an increase of 413 cases in the past 24 hours?most of them in the United States with 346 new cases ? and Japan with 51,? WHO spokesperson Fadela Chaib told journalists in Geneva.

The A(H1N1) virus has killed 84 people?74 in Mexico, eight in the United States, and one each in Canada and Costa Rica.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged people to keep up their guard against the virus because previous pandemics had shown flu outbreaks could start mild and worsen.

?That is why the world must remain vigilant and alert to the warning signs,? Ban said in his speech to the WHO annual assembly in Geneva.

RP contingency plan

?We are reviewing and updating the tasks of each agency for the contingency plan that will be applied once a sustained human-to-human transmission in the Philippines happens,? Dr. Lyndon Lee Suy, DoH program manager for emerging infectious diseases, said after presiding over a meeting of the National Disaster Coordinating Council.

At present, the DoH is monitoring three suspected flu cases involving a 42-year-old man, a 5-year-old boy, and a 32-year-old woman?all of whom have recently arrived from abroad. The virus has been ruled out in 67 suspected cases.

The Manila International Airport Authority and Bureau of Quarantine Wednesday began giving out seminars to hundreds of employees at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport to orient them on the virus and how it is transmitted. Thermal scanners have been installed to screen arriving passengers at international airports.

Taiwan case

Taiwan?s first confirmed case is an Australian doctor who arrived by plane in Taipei on Monday.

The 52-year-old doctor is responding well to treatment, according to Shih Wen-yi, a spokesperson from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

The doctor, who practices in Taiwan, may have contracted the virus aboard a cruise ship, Shih said.

The Australian doctor was running a fever after arriving from New York via Hong Kong and was brought to a hospital for testing.

?We urge the public not to panic and the passengers aboard the flight to contact the CDC for testing,? Shih said.

Authorities have tracked down 23 of the 61 people who sat nearest the doctor on the Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong for screening.

?He started to feel sick when he was about to arrive in Taiwan. Most of his symptoms have been alleviated after treatment,? a hospital official said.

Japan outbreak

The outbreak has spread to a third western prefecture in Japan and experts warned the virus may have reached Tokyo, the heart of the world?s second-largest economy. With almost 36 million people, Tokyo is the world?s most populous urban area.

The commercial hub of Kobe, where the first domestic case was confirmed on Saturday, remained the worst affected.

The prefecture of Shiga became the third, after Hyogo and Osaka, to confirm a swine flu infection, with a man in his 20s testing positive after returning from a weekend trip to Kobe.

About 86 percent of the cases detected so far in Japan involved people between the ages of 10 and 19?making it more prevalent among youth in Japan than it is in the United States.

Authorities have closed more than 4,400 schools, colleges and kindergartens for the rest of the week to slow the spread of the virus.

Loosen rules

The government plans to loosen its strict measures designed to contain the virus. Under the current rules, for example, all people with swine flu are asked to see doctors at designated clinics and allow themselves to be hospitalized, regardless of the severity of their symptoms.

Local mayors and physicians have complained that the measures are unrealistic and burdening local hospitals.

?We are considering various reviews, including allowing medical care (for swine flu patients) at normal hospital wards,? said Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura.

4 new cases in Australia

Also on Wednesday, Australia reported four new cases, including three young brothers, raising the overall number of confirmed infections in the country to five. All four had returned from the United States, which has reported more than 5,000 cases.

Health Minister Nicola Roxon said there was no proof of live transmission of the virus within Australia?s borders. ?I need to reiterate to the community that we are very well placed to deal with any outbreak of swine flu here in Australia,? she told reporters.

A 9-year-old boy returned to Melbourne with his family on a flight from Los Angeles on May 12 and began showing flu-like symptoms this week. Two of his brothers, aged 10 and 12, subsequently tested positive for the virus.

Family, classmates quarantined

Health authorities in the state of Victoria have quarantined the family, along with the classmates of the three brothers. All the pupils will be quarantined for seven days and treated with Tamiflu.

Authorities are also contacting passengers on the flight the family took from the United States as a precaution.

In the neighboring state of New South Wales, a 28-year-old Sydney woman was also confirmed to have contracted the virus. The woman fell ill while vacationing in the United States but recovered before she returned home.

But her traveling companion was also suspected of suffering a mild case of the disease, and all passengers on board their flight were being contacted.

Latin America

In the United States, a man who recently traveled to Mexico may have become the country?s eighth swine flu casualty when he died on Tuesday after contracting the virus, according to health officials and local media reports.

Mexico, the epicenter of the outbreak, reported four new deaths from swine flu on Tuesday. Even so, the Mexican health minister said that the virus appeared to be on the wane in his country.

The virus, however, is spreading across Latin America, with Colombia confirming 12 cases and Chile reporting another 10.

A 14-month-old Canadian child who arrived in Cuba from Toronto became the fourth case of swine flu on the island.

The WHO has so far resisted pressure to declare a full-fledged swine flu pandemic, but anxiety about the spread of the virus?especially in Asia and the Americas?is growing.