WHO declares flu outbreaks of international concern

GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Health Organization (WHO) declared on Saturday the flu outbreaks in Mexico and the United States a "public health event of international concern."

Margaret Chan, the WHO director-general, also urged all countries to boost their surveillance for any unusual outbreaks of influenza-like illness and severe pneumonia.

In a statement based on advice she received from WHO's emergency committee of experts, the WHO said that "the director-general has determined that the current events constitute a public health emergency of international concern."

The experts further agreed that more information was needed before making a decision on a possible change to the WHO's pandemic alert phase, currently 3 on a scale of 1 to 6, it said.

(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay)