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25 563 â€œswine fluâ€ cases identified in 73 countries

10 June 2009 09:27 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Victoria Dementyeva â€“ APA. According to World Health Organization, 73 countries have officially reported 26 563 cases of the â€œswine fluâ€, including 140 deaths, as of today, APA reports quoting the UN official website. The agencyâ€™s pandemic alert level remains at Phase 5, but it doesnâ€™t rule out to pass the Phase 6, which means the beginning of global pandemic. The virus is spreading among the children rapidly. The government of Canada reported about the serious infection cases among the indigenous people. WHO Assistant Director General Keiji Fukuda said the World Health Organization was getting close to declaring a full H1N1 influenza pandemic but wants to make sure countries are well prepared for such a move to prevent a panic. Fukuda said a decision to declare a pandemic involved more than simply making an announcement. The United Nations agency had to ensure that countries were able to deal with the new situation and also handle any public reaction. â€œOne of the critical issues is that we do not want people to â€˜over-panicâ€™ if they hear that we are in a pandemic situation. These are the kinds of potential adverse effects that you can have if you go out without making sure people understand the situation as well as possible,â€ Fukuda said.