MEXICO CITY — The swine-flu epidemic entered a dangerous new phase Monday as the death toll climbed in Mexico and the number of suspected cases there and in the United States nearly doubled.
The World Health Organization raised its alert level but stopped short of declaring a global emergency. The United States advised Americans against most travel to Mexico and ordered stepped-up border checks in neighboring states.
The European Union health commissioner advised Europeans to avoid nonessential travel to Mexico and parts of the U.S.
The virus was suspected in up to 149 deaths in Mexico, the epicenter of the outbreak with nearly 2,000 cases suspected, according to Mexican authorities. Lab testing has so far confirmed seven of the Mexican deaths were caused by swine flu, according to the WHO.
In the United States, 50 cases — none fatal — were confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other health authorities. Six cases were confirmed in Canada.
Overseas, cases were confirmed in Scotland and Spain, while more were suspected in New Zealand, Israel, South Korea, France and Brazil.
The WHO raised the alert level to Phase 4, meaning there is sustained human-to-human transmission of the virus causing outbreaks in at least one country. Its alert system was revised after bird flu in Asia began to spread in 2004, and Monday was the first time it was raised above Phase 3.
“At this time, containment is not a feasible option,” as the virus has already spread to several other countries, said WHO Assistant Director- General Keiji Fukuda.
Putting an alert at Phase 4 or 5 signals that the virus is becoming increasingly adept at spreading among humans. That move could lead governments to set trade, travel and other restrictions aimed at limiting its spread.
Phase 6 is for a full-blown pandemic, characterized by outbreaks in at least two regions of the world.
It could take four to six months before the first batch of vaccines is available to fight the virus, WHO officials said.
Russia, Hong Kong and Taiwan said they would quarantine visitors showing symptoms of the virus amid global fears of a pandemic.
President Barack Obama said the outbreak was reason for concern but not yet “a cause for alarm.”
Dr. Richard Besser, acting director of the CDC, said that so far the virus in the United States seems less severe than in Mexico. Only one person has been hospitalized in the U.S.
“I wouldn’t be overly reassured by that,” Besser told reporters at CDC headquarters in Atlanta, raising the possibility of more severe cases in the United States.
“We are taking it seriously and acting aggressively,” Besser said.
Mexico canceled school at all levels nationwide until May 6, and the Mexico City government said it was considering a complete shutdown, including all public transportation, if the death toll keeps rising. Labor Secretary Javier Lozano Alarcon said employers should isolate anyone showing up for work with a fever, cough, sore throat or other signs of the flu.
Even one of Mexico’s most treasured national holidays was affected by the swine-flu alert.
Authorities announced Monday the cancellation of the annual Cinco de Mayo parade, in which people in period costumes celebrate Mexican troops’ defeat of the French army May 5, 1862.
Amid the warnings, the Mexican government grappled with increasing criticism of its response. At least two weeks after the first swine-flu case, the government has yet to say where and how the outbreak began or give details on the victims.
The health department lacked the staff to visit the homes of all those suspected to have died from the disease, Mexican Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova said.
He said 1,995 people have been hospitalized with serious cases of pneumonia since the first case of swine flu was reported April 13. The government does not yet know how many were swine flu.
Cordova said tests show a 4-year- old boy contracted the virus before April 2 in Veracruz state, where a community has been protesting pollution from a large pig farm.
The farm is run by Granjas Carroll de Mexico, a joint venture half owned by Virginia-based Smithfield Foods Inc. Spokeswoman Keira Ullrich said the company has found no clinical signs or symptoms of the presence of swine flu in its herd or its employees working anywhere in Mexico.
Mexico’s Agriculture Department on Monday said its inspectors found no sign of swine flu among pigs around the farm in Veracruz and that no infected pigs have been found yet anywhere in Mexico.
China, Russia and Ukraine were among countries banning imports of pork and pork products from Mexico and three U.S. states that have reported swine-flu cases, while other countries such as Indonesia banned all pork imports.
The CDC says people cannot get the flu by eating pork or pork products.
Mexican officials said the first confirmed fatality of the disease was a woman who worked as a door-to- door census-taker and might have had contact with scores of people, the Los Angeles Times reported. Maria Adela Gutierrez, 39, died in the southern city of Oaxaca, capital of the state bordering Veracruz.
