Pandemic flu still active: WHO

The H1N1 flu virus is spreading most actively in North Africa,South Asia and parts of Europe,the World Health Organisation said on Friday....

The H1N1 flu virus is spreading most actively in North Africa,South Asia and parts of Europe,the World Health Organisation said on Friday.

Raising its official global death toll from the pandemic to nearly 14,000,the WHO also said that while Indias infections may have peaked in December,neighbouring Nepal and Sri Lanka were still experiencing widespread transmission.

Morocco,Algeria and Egypt are continuing to see the active spread of H1N1 and some countries in Europe,including Romania,Ukraine,Turkey and Switzerland,are also reporting moderately intense rates of respiratory disease,it said. Its latest update on swine flu also noted that seasonal influenza viruses have been largely overshadowed by the pandemic strain in the northern hemisphere winter this year.

Pandemic H1N1 2009 virus continues to be the predominant circulating influenza virus in the European region with only sporadic detections of seasonal influenza viruses, it said,concluding the same for northern Africa and swathes of Asia.

The WHO said flu activity in Japan,China and Mongolia has been declining since November. In North Korea,geographically regional influenza activity with increasing respiratory diseases trend was reported during early January 2010, it said.