MEXICO CITY, Mexico, June 2, 2009 (AFP) - Mexico's swine flu death toll passed the 100 mark on Tuesday, climbing by six to reach 103, and its confirmed infections rose by more than 200 to 5,460, the health ministry said.

Six more deaths from A(H1N1) have been confirmed since Friday, a statement said, adding that "there were very few new cases," since the virus first appeared here in April.

All of Mexico's 32 states have now registered swine flu cases, with most in the sprawling capital Mexico City.

More than 70 percent of the deceased were aged between 20 and 54 years, the health ministry said, with a total of 52.4 percent female and 47.6 percent male.

Mexican Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova said Monday that the country at the epicenter of the global epidemic might lift its swine flu alert mid-June, insisting the virus was on the wane.

Some 18,965 cases of infections including 117 deaths have been reported to the World Health Organization by 64 countries around the world since the virus emerged in the United States and Mexico.

A WHO official warned on Tuesday that a swine flu pandemic was looming closer, as Africa reported its first case and Australia's tally soared to nearly 500.