Mexican Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova reported on Friday that a total of 16 people had died in Mexico from the outbreak of a new type of influenza.

Cordova said that the number of deaths was confirmed after virus studies, and the samples were sent to labs in Atlanta, the United States.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon together with ministers and other health authorities are studying if this outbreak is a new strain of influenza.

The Mexican government suspended on Friday all activities at private and public schools, from kindergartens to universities, in Mexico City and the State of Mexico.

The suspension could be extended according to the development of the epidemic, which is being monitored on an hourly basis by the health authorities, Cordova said.

According to Mexican authorities, the epidemic has been reported in Mexico City and the states of Mexico, Hidalgo, Baja California, Chihuahua, San Luis Potosi, Tlaxcala and Veracruz.

Meanwhile, coordinator of the Medical Financial System from the Institute of Security and Social Services of the State (ISSSTE) Luicina Ortega told a local radio station that the death toll from the influenza outbreak could be higher than the official figures.

Ortega said that the figure from the Health Ministry did not include deaths at the Mexican Institute of Welfare (IMSS) Hospitals or those at private hospitals.

Meanwhile, Mexico City's Secretary of Health Armando Ahued said that initial studies had identified a new virus, and national health centers are in close communication with scientists in the United States and Canada.

Ahued said that the government of Mexico City will soon launch a campaign to give vaccines to all citizens.

According to earlier media reports, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday that there had been 57 suspected deaths in Mexico from the outbreak of what it identified as "swine flu."