KIEV, October 30 (RIA Novosti) - Swine flu has been confirmed as the cause of 30 deaths in western Ukraine since October 19, the country's health minister said on Friday.

Vasyl Knyazevych said the deaths occurred in three regions earlier in the week, but the A/H1N1 virus had only now been determined as the cause.

Knyazevych told Unian news agency that a pandemic had begun in the country.

"Ukraine has joined the global pandemic zone," he told the agency, adding the government would consider imposing quarantines, prolonging current school holidays and other measures to curb the spread of the virus.

The government is expected to hold an emergency session later on Friday to address the outbreak. Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko plans to travel to the Tirnopol region, where the virus originated before spreading to the neighboring Ivano-Frankovsk and Lvov regions.