WHO says 1,003 swine flu cases in 20 countries

UNITED NATIONS: WHO officials estimate there are 1,003 cases of swine flu spread through 20 countries, but are not planning to raise the alert level yet, top WHO official Margaret Chan said Monday.

"There are now 1,003 confirmed cases of H1N1 in 20 countries," the World Health Organization chief told senior UN officials in New York during an audio-conference.

"We don't know how long we have till we move to phase six. Six indicates we are in a pandemic. We are not there yet," she added.

Chan was speaking from Geneva during an informal meeting of the UN General Assembly to evaluate WHO preparations to confront the A(H1N1) virus.

On Sunday the WHO said there were 985 confirmed cases of swine flu in 20 countries, including 590 cases in Mexico where 25 people have died, and 226 cases in the United States were one toddler has succumbed to the disease.