Fiji must now brace itself for the arrival of Influenza A/H1N1 after the World Health Organization upgraded the alertness to Phase 6 on Tuesday.

Fiji's Health Minister Neil Sharma, who was attending the WHO assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, said on Tuesday that the WHO had announced that the alertness has been upgraded to Phase 6 because of the way the disease has been spreading throughout the world.

As of Tuesday, 40 countries have officially reported 8,829 cases of Influenza A/H1N1 infection, including 74 deaths.

The list includes one confirmed case in Australia, nine in New Zealand, three in South Korea, 4,714 in the United States, 101 in Britain, 125 in Japan and 496 in Canada.

All these countries have air-links to Fiji.

Sharma said the local preparation needs to be on full alert, with the health system up and ready to treat patients.

He said there was no question on whether the disease will get to Fiji or not but a question of when it will hit Fiji.

"And we must be ready for that time - when it does hit us," Sharma said.

"People must continue to practise healthy living and take heed of all the warnings and advice we have given them," he said.

"The Ministry of Health must have its entire staff ready to treat and have a contingency plan ready if indeed we do get multiple cases," he added.

Sharma said that since Fiji is the hub of the South Pacific, " we are at risk more than anyone else in the South Pacific."

"If it does come to the South Pacific it will come through us first because flights come in through Nadi and ships come in through our ports," he said.

"So we have to be prepared. We must have our guards up," he added.

He said it was important that people are re-assured about the process that has been taken to ensure we are protected and ready if we do get some cases.

"We have to get the tourism industry to do their bit, the schools and school management teams, the Customs, Immigration, Health and other Border Control people to play their part too," he added.

"Everyone must now join hands and work together because it is now inevitable that the virus will get to Fiji," Sharma said.

(Xinhua News Agency May 20, 2009)