Aug. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Japan’s Health Minister Yoichi Masuzoe said the spread of swine flu is at pandemic levels after the nation’s third death from the virus, Kyodo News said.

Masuzoe said the public needs to be vigilant to prevent an increase in infections, Kyodo said, citing comments made at a press conference today.

A woman, aged in her 80s, died in hospital in Nagoya from pneumonia today after contracting the virus, the report said. A man in Kobe west of Osaka died yesterday and a man on the southern island of Okinawa passed away on Aug. 15.

Japan had 5,022 swine flu infections as of July 24, according to the latest tally on the health ministry’s Web site.

To contact the reporter on this story: Anna Kitanaka in Tokyo akitanaka@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: August 19, 2009 00:27 EDT