Toronto.– The A/H1N1 flu continues to spread worldwide, with the number of confirmed cases soaring in Canada and the United States. Canada added 218 new cases of A/H1N1 flu on Thursday and Friday, bringing the country's total to 1,336, according to the latest figures from the Public Health Agency of Canada.

The outbreak has spread to the sparsely-populated northern Territory of Nunavut, which reported its first case on Friday. Out of Canada's 10 provinces and three territories, nine provinces and two territories have now reported infection cases.

The number of confirmed and suspected human A/H1N1 flu cases has risen to 8,975 in 48 U.S. states plus the District of Columbia, with 15 deaths, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported on Friday.

The CDC anticipated that there will be more cases, more hospitalizations and more deaths associated with this new virus in the coming days and weeks. In Europe, 24 new A/H1N1 flu cases were confirmed Friday within the last 24 hours.

Of the new cases, 12 were confirmed in Britain, six in France, two in Belgium, and one each in Estonia, Germany, Greece and Slovakia, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said in its daily situation report.

The total number of confirmed cases of the H1N1 flu virus in the European Union and European Free Trade Association countries rose to 480, with 143 cases in Spain and 215 in Britain, 26 each in Italy and France, the ECDC said. Estonia reported its first confirmed case in a traveler returning from New York.

The flu has spread to 18 Latin American and Caribbean countries as of Friday, with more infection cases and higher death toll. Dominican Republic confirmed on Friday its first two cases of the flu.