WHO: Some 13,000 dead worldwide from H1N1

GENEVA, Switzerland, Jan. 8 (UPI) -- More than 200 countries have reported confirmed H1N1 flu deaths of more than 12,799, officials of the World Health Organization in Switzerland say.

WHO officials say the fatalities were laboratory confirmed but actual mortality from the pandemic will be higher. The most active areas of pandemic influenza transmission currently are in parts of central, eastern and southeastern Europe, North Africa and South Asia.

Pandemic influenza transmission remains geographically widespread throughout Europe, particularly in several countries of central, eastern and southeastern Europe such as Poland, Serbia, Ukraine and Georgia.

The greatest proportions of samples testing positive for influenza were observed in Greece at 72 percent, Georgia at 54 percent and Switzerland at 49 percent. However, in most of western and northern Europe, rates of influenza-like illness have been declining substantially.

Sporadic cases of seasonal H3N2 influenza have been identified in Western Europe but in very small numbers.

In North Africa and West Asia, limited data suggest influenza transmission remains active. Although west Asia may have already experienced a peak in influenza activity, parts of North Africa are reporting increasing respiratory disease activity, particularly in Egypt.

Pandemic influenza remains geographically widespread in South Asia, particularly in northern India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Influenza transmission remains geographically regional to widespread in Southeast Asia, and transmission remains widespread and active in East Asia but appears to be declining overall.