Deaths from swine flu in Latin America -- the worst-hit region in the world -- rose to over 1,300 this month.

Uribe, a conservative staunch US ally, began to suffer from symptoms of the flu on Saturday after returning from a summit meeting in Argentina, so he had a checkup which confirmed he had the A(H1N1) virus, according to a statement read out by his spokesman Cesar Velasquez.

"The president is continuing to work, and he will be in quarantine for some time as he recovers," the statement added, noting that Uribe was doing well and was working out of his ranch in Rionegro, in the country's northwest.

Velasquez also said Uribe's office sent a message to governments of other countries that took part in the summit in Bariloche, Argentina, to see if anyone else had taken ill.

"All the people and government leaders who have had close contact with the president are being informed," the spokesman added.

To date 34 people have died of the flu in Colombia, official data show. A total of 621 infections have been confirmed.

The Union of South American Nations (Unasur) summit met in the Argentine ski resort of Bariloche to examine claims by Venezuela President Hugo Chavez that US military deployment in Colombia could be used to invade his country.

Chavez, Uribe's frequent critic, in Caracas said he was sorry Uribe was ill. "I hope this will not affect his (overall) health, and that nobody else comes down with it," Chavez said.

"He'll be fine; he's young and he exercises," Chavez added of Uribe, and added that he himself felt well and did not plan to get tested.

"No, not now because I do not have anything. I am feeling so well that yesterday I pitched 10 innings (in a baseball game with his cabinet), we ran for three hours and then I sang a bit," added Chavez, who on Monday leaves for a trip set to take him to Libya, Algeria, Syria, Iran, Belarus and Russia.

Unasur groups Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Costa Rica's President Oscar Arias, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and mediator of the Honduran political crisis, also is fighting the swine flu, the government said earlier this month.

Swine flu spreads four times faster than other viruses and 40 percent of the fatalities are young adults in good health, the world's top health official warned in an interview appearing Saturday.

"This virus travels at an unbelievable, almost unheard of speed," World Health Organisation Director General Margaret Chan told France's Le Monde daily in an interview.

"Sixty percent of the deaths cover those who have underlying health problems," Chan said. "This means that 40 percent of the fatalities concern young adults -- in good health -- who die of a viral fever in five to seven days.

"This is the most worrying fact," she said, adding that "up to 30 percent of people in densely populated countries risked getting infected."

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