HONG KONG, June 7 (Xinhua) -- More influenza A/H1N1 cases were confirmed in the Asia and Pacific region on Sunday, with cases locally transmitted reporting on the rise.

    China confirmed on Sunday a fifth A/H1N1 patient infected through local transmission, bringing the total number of A/H1N1 cases to 73 on the mainland.

    The latest confirmed case was an 18-year-old woman surnamed Li in the southwestern Sichuan province, the Sichuan Health Department said on its website on Sunday.

    She showed symptoms of fever and a cough Saturday morning and tested positive for the virus in the disease control and prevention center of Chengdu, the provincial capital.

    Her mother, a 40-year-old Chinese-American, who arrived in Chengdu on Tuesday from New York via Hong Kong, was confirmed to have the virus Saturday, the second such case in the province.

    India reported the first case of human-to-human transmission ofthe deadly virus of A/H1N1 flu in Hyderabad, central India on Sunday, taking the number of persons afflicted by the disease to seven in the country, reported the semi-official Press Trust of India.

    The human-to-human transmission took place when a man, who came back from the United States on May 31, infected his younger brother living in Hyderabad, said the report.

    A mother-son duo, who were sitting two rows behind the passenger from the United States, also reported symptoms of flu in Hyderabad. While the child tested positive, results of the tests on the mother are yet to come, said the report.

    Two other new suspected A/H1N1 patients were admitted to the Chest Hospital in Hyderabad. The two new suspected cases included a 27-year lady who arrived from St. Louis, United States, on June 3, said the report.

    In Hong Kong, five people were tested positive for the A/H1N1 influenza virus on Sunday, taking the number of confirmed cases of the disease in the city to 38, local health authorities announced here.

    In Vietnam, the Health Department of Vietnam's southern province of Ho Chi Minh City said that there had been eight more influenza A/H1N1 cases in the country, raising the total number of people found positive to the virus to 13.

    Thailand's Ministry of Public Health on Sunday reported a ninth case of influenza A/H1N1 infection in the country.

    Witthaya Kaewparadai, Public Health Minister, said the latest patient was a 29-year-old businessman who returned from the United States on Thursday and was admitted to a hospital on Saturday morning after having felt sick around Friday midnight.

    According to lab result by the Department of Medical Sciences on Saturday, the man's example tested positive for the virus, he said.

    In New Zealand, another case of Influenza A/H1N1 was confirmed on Sunday, taking the total to 14 in the country, the Health Ministry said.

    Sunday's confirmed case was a 46-year-old who traveled to New Zealand from North America on May 31 and became ill last Tuesday. The person had traveled with a previously confirmed case.

    Japan's tally of A/H1N1 flu infections have amounted to 424, local media reported Sunday.