H1N1 flu infects 13,000 people in 46 countries: WHO

GENEVA - The World Health Organization said on Tuesday that nearly 13,000 people have been confirmed infected with the new H1N1 flu strain but the number of countries affected is stable at 46.

In its latest tally, which tends to lag national reports but is considered more secure, the United Nations agency said its labs have confirmed 12,954 infections with the newly discovered strain that has killed 92 people.

Mexico has been most heavily touched by the flu outbreak, which has caused 80 deaths there. The other fatalities have been in the United States, where 10 people have died, and Costa Rica and Canada which have reported one death each.

The WHO said that the airborne virus has now been detected in all regions of the world except for Africa, which has yet to report an H1N1 infection. The biggest pockets outside of North America so far are in Japan, Britain and Spain.

There has been one case confirmed in Taiwan, a self-ruled island claimed by China that is not a WHO member. The WHO lists that infection in its global total but does not describe it in its list of affected countries on its website www.who.int.