The number of confirmed cases of the new H1N1 flu remains at five and the situation appears to have stabilised, Health Undersecretary Ferruccio Fazio said on Wednesday.
''Italians have understood that there is no imminent danger'' of the flu spreading, Fazio said.
There have been no new cases in Italy of H1N1 flu - also known as Influenza A, Swine Flu or Mexican Flu - since a fifth case was confirmed on Tuesday.
The latest data from the World Health Organization (WHO) showed that so far 31 people have died from the new flu, 29 in Mexico, where the flu originated, and two in the United States, in the state of Texas which borders with Mexico.
WHO also said there are currently 1,535 confirmed cases of H1N1 flu and 1,547 suspected cases in 23 countries.
The Italian Higher Health Institute (ISS) on Wednesday said that a worldwide outbreak of H1N1 flu next winter could be possible.
''We cannot rule out the possibility that the H1N1 virus may remain at low levels now to then explode in a pandemic in the autumn the way the Spanish Flu did,'' ISS official Gianni Rezza said.
The Spanish Flu was also caused by a strain of the H1N1 virus and killed between 70 to 100 million people between March 1918 and June 1920.
''There are some who believe this new flu could behave like the Spanish Flu, which had an initial, mild wave in the spring of 1918 and then a violent outbreak in the autumn,'' Rezza said.
''Although there is no way to predict how this flu will evolve in the future, it is clear that we are allowing for this possibility in developing a new vaccine and strategies to combat a possible pandemic,'' he added.
Although the H1N1 flu may have originated as a form of swine flu, Rezza observed, ''pigs no longer have anything to do with it and the real problem now is that it is passing man-to-man''.
''STOCK UP ON CHEAP PORK,'' MINISTER SAYS.
Despite reassurances from experts and authorities that the new H1N1 flu virus cannot be contracted from eating or being in contact with pork, sales continue to plunge in Italy.
According to the citizens rights observatory Codici, 'consumers need to be informed correctly. It is wrong to keep referring to swine flu when the virus is transmitted from man to man,'' Codici said.
''Furthermore, the virus strain is very weak and can easily be destroyed by cooking,'' the group added.
Italian Agriculture Minister Luca Zaia this week renewed his call for Italians not to boycott pork which he said was ''absolutely safe to eat''.
''This flu, which we were the first to point out was not swine flu, is going to cause many victims: our pig farmers, if this unjustified panic continues,'' the minister said.
''With pork prices currently running 40-45% lower than normal, my suggestion to Italians is to buy up as much pork as they can freeze and store,'' Zaia added.
A survey in Rome found that butcher shops and supermarkets were offering pork at prices in the neighborhood of four euros, as opposed to between five and six euros before the flu scare.
A poll by the Coldiretti farmers' union found that, one out of ten Italians are not eating pork because of the flu scare, while 72% have not changed their eating habits and 12% have increased their purchases of the meat.
The remaining 6% do not eat pork for religious reasons or because they are vegetarians.
