By Nathan Gill

     May 26 (Bloomberg) — Chile’s health ministry confirmed 21 new cases of swine flu today, giving the country a total of 107, the health ministry said.

     Nineteen of the new cases resulted from “community transmission” in four different regions, Osvaldo Sagrado, an official in charge of health-care networks at the ministry, told reporters today in Santiago.

     The virus known as H1N1 “is behaving similarly to the rest of the world,” Sagrado said. “The great majority of the cases are minor, with a high transmission rate and a low mortality rate, which fortunately in Chile has been zero.”

     The South American country confirmed its first case on May 17 after two female tourists returning from the Dominican Republic were diagnosed with the H1N1 virus.

     A 38-year-old woman from Chile’s Lakes region is in critical condition though her condition is “better than yesterday,” Sagrado said.