WHO declares swine flu pandemic; cases rise in India

As more swine flu cases were reported in the world, including India, the World Health Organisation (WHO) today declared the disease as a pandemic, raising its alert to maximum ‘level six’.

In India, two more persons in Delhi and one in Goa tested positive for swine flu, taking the total number of such cases to 15. In the capital, a 41-year-old woman who travelled from Haiti, was the latest case of swine flu and has been admitted to the designated Ram Manohar Lohia hospital.

A 25-year-old woman, travelling from New York to Delhi, who reported fever and cough on June 9, 2009, has also tested positive. The father of the 17-year-old student from Boston, who had also shown symptoms of the disease yesterday, has tested negative for the virus, a senior health ministry official said.

The other positive case was a male passenger who had come from London via Germany in Goa. He has been quarantined at PHC Chicalim, a few kilometres away from the Goa airport.

A total of 74 countries are now affected by the virus.

Swedish Health Minister Maria Larsson was to hold a press conference following "the WHO's decision to raise the pandemic level to six for the influenza A(H1N1)," the Swedish government said in a statement.