GENEVA, SWITZERLAND (AP) -- The World Health Organization has raised its pandemic alert for a new strain of swine flu by one level, two steps short of declaring a full pandemic.
WHO says the phase 4 alert means there is sustained human-to-human transmission in at least one country.
WHO's assistant director-general Keiji Fukuda adds that "at this time containment is not a feasible option" as the virus has already spread to several other countries.
WHO has confirmed human cases of swine flu in Mexico, the United States, Canada and Spain. Only Mexico has reported deaths from the new strain.
WHO Director-General Margaret Chan made the decision to raise the alert level from phase 3 after emergency consultations with flu experts from around the world Monday.
SWINE FLU
NEW: New Zealand, Israel confirm 12 swine flu cases
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - New Zealand's health minister and an Israeli hospital are reporting the first confirmed cases of swine flu to hit the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific regions.
New Zealand Health Minister Tony Ryall reports 11 cases. Those infected are members of group of students and teachers who returned recently from a trip to Mexico, where the virus is suspected in more than 150 deaths.
The other case is in Netanya, an Israeli city north of Tel Aviv. Laniado Hospital's medical director says Health Ministry laboratory tests confirm swine flu in a 26-year-old patient who recently returned from Mexico.
Dr. Avinoam Skolnik says he doesn't know whether the strain is the same as the Mexican variety. Skolnik said Tuesday that the patient has fully recovered and is in "excellent condition."
CONGRESS
Congress to probe swine flu outbreak
WASHINGTON (AP) - The spread of the new swine flu strain has caught Congress' attention and hearings are planned this week.
One Senate subcommittee will explore the public health response at a hearing Tuesday while Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is to testify before a Senate panel on Wednesday. It'll be the House's turn Thursday as other health experts are scheduled to tell a subcommittee about the risk of the flu spreading.
The swiftly organized hearings were inspired by the outbreak of 50 cases of swine flu in the U.S. So far, no one in the U.S. is known to have died from the illness unlike Mexico, where the virus is suspected in up to 152 deaths.
Napolitano said Monday that travel warnings to Mexico will remain in place as long as necessary.
SWINE FLU-MEXICO
Mexico faces criticism over swine flu response
MEXICO CITY (AP) - The Mexican response to the swine flu outbreak shows signs of confusion and disorganization even as the suspected death toll has climbed to 152.
Two weeks after the first known swine flu death, Mexico still hasn't given medicine to the families of the dead. It hasn't determined where the outbreak began or how it spread. And while the government urges anyone who feels sick to go to hospitals, feverish people complain ambulance workers are scared to pick them up.
Foreign health officials are hesitant to speak critically about Mexico's response, saying they want to wait until more details emerge before passing judgment. But Mexicans are questioning the government's image of a country that has the crisis under control.
Meanwhile, Mexico's Agriculture Department says inspectors found no sign of swine flu among pigs in the area where the first confirmed Mexican case occurred. It also says no infected pigs have been found yet anywhere in Mexico.
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