Spike in flu cases triggers WHO declaration

China Daily | Updated: 2009-06-12 07:51

A Japanese school boy wears a face mask as he leaves the Japanese International School in a suburb of the western German city of Duesseldorf yesterday. German authorities have confirmed 30 cases of the H1N1 flu at the school in Duesseldorf, the most concentrated outbreak of the virus so far in Germany. Reuters

SYDNEY/BERLIN/BANGKOK: The spike in H1N1 cases in Australia, where five people have been admitted to intensive care and 1,263 cases of H1N1 flu recorded, has prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare a first flu pandemic in 40 years.