Flu 'pandemic' announcement awaited

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With the number of UK cases jumping to 750, officials at the World Health Organisation (WHO) are reportedly due to meet in Geneva, Switzerland, to discuss the worldwide spread of the disease.

It follows consultations between WHO director-general Margaret Chan and health chiefs around the world about the outbreak's status.

She said on Tuesday that she believed the disease may have reached pandemic level, adding: "Once I get indisputable evidence, I will make the announcement."

The last global pandemic was declared in 1968 over an outbreak of Hong Kong flu, which killed about one million people.

WHO said the H1N1 swine flu virus had infected 27,737 people in 74 countries and caused 141 deaths. Most of the cases have been in North America, but Europe and Australia have seen a sharp increase in recent days.

Another 32 cases were confirmed in Scotland on Wednesday, and one in Northern Ireland, bringing the UK total to 750.

An additional 607 cases are under investigation, the Health Protection Agency said.

A total of 20 schools have closed since the first case of swine flu was confirmed in the UK, and 15 have since reopened.

It emerged on Wednesday that a 14-year-old boy had been diagnosed with the virus at Malvern College, Worcestershire. The co-educational boarding school has not been closed.