She reiterated, however, that the WHO does not recommend closure of borders and there should be no restriction of movement of people, goods or services.

Answering questions about H1N1 vaccine, Chan said the WHO has been in regular dialogue with vaccine manufacturers.

She said manufacturers are expected to finish production for seasonal influenza for the northern hemisphere very soon, and then the WHO would advise them to quickly prepare to make commercial- scale pandemic vaccine.

As of Thursday, 74 countries and regions have officially reported 28,774 cases of A/H1N1 influenza infections to the WHO, including 144 deaths.

Most of the deaths occurred in Mexico, where the new virus was first identified. Deaths have also been reported from the Untied States, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic.

(Xinhua News Agency June 12, 2009)