The World Health Organisation has declared the swine flu outbreak a global influenza pandemic, the first time the organisation has upgraded its alert status to such a level in 41 years.
Swine flu has infected tens of thousands of people globally, including more than 1000 people in Australia, while the death toll presently stands at 144.
WHO Director General Margaret Chan said the pandemic was "moderate" and did not mean the death toll from the virus would rise sharply.
Swine flu facts: the virus, the symptoms, the treatment "We will be raising our pandemic alert level to level six, and this means that the world is moving into the early days of its first influenza pandemic in the 21st century," Dr Chan said.
"At this time, the global assessment is that we are seeing a moderate pandemic.
"Moving to pandemic phase six level does not imply we will see increase in number of deaths or very severe cases.
"Quite on the contrary, many people having mild disease will recover without medicine in some cases, and it is good news, but the tendency to move into complacency is our biggest concern."
The UN will not recommend the closure of borders or restrictions in the movement of people, goods and services.
However it warned the virus was spreading beyond the Americas where it was first detected in April.
The latest WHO figures show that the number of reported A(H1N1) infections has reached 28,774 in 74 countries.
Australia has the fifth-largest outbreak in the world, with 1307 cases. Victoria has 1011 of those, of which four people are in intensive care units.
It is believed the people in intensive care already had underlying medical conditions, such as morbid obesity and chronic respiratory problems.
In an interview with The Age, Dr Chan said the the spread of the virus was now unstoppable.
"It should not be a surprise to see (deaths in Australia). That was the experience of other countries that have gone ahead with their outbreaks several weeks before Australia," Dr Chan said.
theage.com.au 
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