New Delhi  - India has advised its citizens against visiting nations hit by a swine flu outbreak and is screening passengers coming from these countries, news reports said Tuesday.

The federal Health Ministry held a meeting Monday to discuss measures to prevent the flu, which spreads among humans through contact with infected pigs, from reaching India.

After the meeting a travel advisory was issued against visiting Mexico, the United States, Britain, France, Canada and New Zealand, the PTI news agency reported.

All passengers coming from these countries would be screened thoroughly and those who had travelled to India over the past 10 days would be tracked down and asked to report to the nearest medical centre, VN Katoch, director general of Indian Council for Medical Research, was quoted as saying.

Surveillance of ports and international airports was being put into place, Katoch added.

India had a stockpile of the drug Tamiflu which was used during the bird flu epidemic and could be used for swine flu cases, Katoch said.

Mexican authorities have said that up to 149 people had died of suspected swine flu, with more than 20 cases confirmed.

Health authorities around the world were racing to contain the outbreak as potential new cases were reported from the US, New Zealand and Spain, raising concerns about the potential for a global pandemic. (dpa)