Egyptian health authorities announced on Friday three new cases of A/H1N1 flu, bringing the number of such cases to 15 in the populous Arab country, Nile TV reported.

Two Egyptian citizens and one Syrian arrived from Canada, Sweden and the United States respectively were detected at Cairo airport, the TV station reported.

They were hospitalized in Abasia Hospital where they received Tumiflu and their conditions were stable.

Earlier on Thursday, Egypt reported the 12th case of an Egyptian-American child, one year and six months old.

On June 2, Egypt reported its first A/H1N1 influenza case, who was a 12-year-old Egyptian-American girl coming from the United States via the Netherlands.

Egypt reported seven A/H1N1 flu cases at a dorm of the American University in Cairo (AUC) and the health ministry quarantined the dorm, which accommodates 110 students and 124 teachers, for seven days.

Egypt, the most populous Arab country that was hit hard by the fatal bird flu in 2006, decided in late April to cull all the pigs in the country to stem the highly infectious flu.

On Thursday, the World Health Organization (WHO) chief declared that the organization has decided to move its A/H1N1 flu alert level to phase six and that the widely spreading flu has developed into a full pandemic.

WHO Dirctor-General Margaret Chan told a news conference that the full pandemic in 41 years was assessed as a "moderate" one.

This is the first global flu epidemic in 41 years. Since it was first detected in Mexico in April, A/H1N1 has so far infected almost 30,000 people in 74 countries and claimed 145 lives, according to WHO figures.

(Xinhua News Agency June 13, 2009)