Mexico City/Washington/Toronto, April 30:The alert for swine flu, which originated in Mexico and has now spread to several countries, was raised to a level which is one shy of a global pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as governments aggressively tried to contain its spread.
As the total number of confirmed swine flu cases worldwide rose to 155, WHO Director General Margaret Chan raised the pandemic alert to phase 5.
The declaration is a strong signal that a pandemic is imminent. It is characterised by human-to-human spread of the virus into at least two countries in one WHO region, DPA news agency reported from Geneva.
The fears of swine flu having reached India were dispelled by the WHO which said the country has not reported any swine flu case and was prepared to handle a possible outbreak.
