WHO close to declaring swine flu pandemic?

The WHO has reported that some 19,273 individuals have been infected with A/H1N1 in 66 countries, adding that the declaration of a worldwide pandemic is not far away. Following the report of two more deaths in the US, WHO officials reported on Wednesday that the virus, still spreading rapidly across the globe, has claimed the lives of more than 117 individuals. The latest results released by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed that the new H1N1 virus has reached all 50 states and has infected over 1,078 new cases, bringing its total infection rate to 10,053, including 17 deaths. Australia's caseload increased by 204 to 501. Canada, on the other hand, identified 194 new cases, bringing its toll to 1,530 cases including three deaths. In Britain and Panama, the number of infected cases jumped by about 50 percent to 381 and 155, respectively. The total number of A/H1N1 infections in Japan rose to 396 after new cases were reported on Tuesday. Egyptian authorities also reported the country's first swine flu case, marking the spread of the virus to Africa. Saudi Arabia confirmed its first case of the H1N1 flu virus in a Filipino nurse, who had recently entered the country. Bulgaria and Nicaragua were the other countries to report their first cases on Wednesday. Country; Cases, Deaths United States of America; 10053, 17 Mexico; 5029, 97 Canada; 1530, 2 Australia; 501, 0 Japan; 385, 0 United Kingdom; 381, 0 Chile; 313, 0 Spain; 180, 0 Panama; 155, 0 Argentina; 131, 0 China; 69, 0 Costa Rica; 50, 1 El Salvador; 41, 0 Korea, Republic of; 41, 0 Peru; 40, 0 Ecuador; 39, 0 Italy; 30, 0 Germany; 28, 0 Hong Kong; 27, 0 France; 26, 0 Brazil; 20, 0 Colombia; 20, 0 Kuwait; 18, 0 Philippines; 16, 0 Uruguay; 15, 0 Guatemala; 14, 0 Belgium; 13, 0 Dominican Republic; 11, 0 Singapore; 11, 0 Switzerland; 10, 0 New Zealand; 10, 0 Sweden; 7, 0 Romania; 6, 0 Paraguay; 5, 0 Greece; 5, 0 Poland; 4, 0 Turkey; 4, 0 Cuba; 4, 0 Finland; 4, 0 Ireland; 4, 0 Norway; 4, 0 Netherlands; 4, 0 Bolivia; 3, 0 Lebanon; 3, 0 Venezuela; 3, 0 Vietnam; 3, 0 Russia; 3, 0 Portugal; 2, 0 Slovakia; 2, 0 Thailand; 2, 0 Honduras; 2, 0 Jamaica; 2, 0 Malaysia; 2, 0 Austria; 1, 0 Bahamas; 1, 0 Bahrain; 1, 0 Bulgaria; 1, 0 Cyprus; 1, 0 Czech Republic; 1, 0 Denmark; 1, 0 Egypt; 1, 0 Estonia; 1, 0 Hungary; 1, 0 Iceland; 1, 0 India; 1, 0 Nicaragua; 1, 0 Israel also reported 33 confirmed swine flu cases.