Several medical workers rest in the special wards area receiving a A/H1N1 flu case at a children's hospital in Managua, capital of Nicaragua, June 1, 2009. A five-year-old girl was confirmed to be the first A/H1N1 flu case in the country on June 1. (Xinhua/Cesar Perez) Photo Gallery>>>

    GENEVA, June 2 (Xinhua) -- As the A/H1N1 flu virus spreads further around the world, the World Health Organization (WHO) is getting closer to declaring a full pandemic, a senior official of the UN agency said on Tuesday.

    "Globally we believe that we are at phase 5, but we are getting closer to phase 6," said WHO Assistant Director-general Dr. Keiji Fukuda, referring to the WHO's six-phase pandemic alert system.

    The new virus is causing more and more infections in countries outside of North America, notably in Britain, Spain, Japan, Australia and Chile, Fukuda told a news conference in Geneva.

    "We still are waiting for evidence of really widespread community activity in these countries," he said.

    According to the WHO's current pandemic alert system, phase 6 will mean the A/H1N1 flu virus causes sustained and community-level human-to-human transmission in regions outside of North America, so far the only region where community-level outbreak has been confirmed.

    So far the virus has caused nearly 19,000 cases of infections in 64 countries and regions, including 117 deaths, the WHO said.

Special Report:  World Tackles A/H1N1 Flu