Swine flu killed over 4,700 people worldwide, says WHO

GENEVA - At least 4,735 people have been killed by swine flu since the viral disease was detected in April, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said in a latest update.

Of all the deaths, 3,406 occurred in the Americas, 530 occurred in South-East Asia and 432 occurred in the West Pacific. Europe, East Mediterranean and Africa reported 207, 90 and 70 deaths respectively. The WHO declared the swine flu as pandemic in June.

The UN health agency said Friday the total number of laboratory confirmed swine flu cases worldwide is now over 399,232, but this estimate is significantly lower than the actual number of cases that have occurred as many countries have stopped testing and reporting individual cases.

Influenza activity continues to increase in the northern temperate zones across the world, Xinhua reported quoting the UN agency.

But influenza rates in the temperate zones of the Southern Hemisphere have all returned to below baseline levels and very few detections of pandemic H1N1 virus, also called swine flu, are being reported.

So far there is still no signs showing the H1N1 virus has mutated into a more dangerous form than the one first discovered in Mexico and the US in April, the WHO said.