Australia will not upgrade its A/H1N1 flu alert despite the World Health Organization (WHO) declaring the virus as a "pandemic", the highest of its six levels.

Australian Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon said on Friday the move by the WHO did not mean Australia had to follow suit.

Roxon revealed health officials met on Friday morning and decided to remain on the "contain" level except for Victoria, which is at "modified sustain".

She said the pandemic level did not reflect the severity of the disease and the WHO director general had made it clear that in the vast majority of cases the A/H1N1 flu would continue to have a mild effect.

"We believe we can continue with our targeted effort to treat those most at risk in Victoria and to continue to try and delay the community spread in those jurisdictions where there are not large numbers of cases," Roxon told reporters.

That will continue to be reassessed on a daily basis, she said.

There were 1,336 cases of A/H1N1 flu in Australia as of Friday afternoon.

(Xinhua News Agency June 12, 2009)