UN health officials are expected to declare the first global flu pandemic in 40 years, after holding emergency talks on the swine flu crisis.
The World Health Organization called the meeting after a steep rise in the number of cases in Australia.
A BBC correspondent says it has little option but to declare a pandemic now there are nearly 28,000 recorded cases.
The Swedish government said in a statement that the WHO had already declared a pandemic.
Hong Kong said it was closing all its nurseries and primary schools for two weeks following 12 school cases.
The last global flu pandemic came in 1968 over the Hong Kong flu.
That pandemic killed about one million people.
A disease is classed as a pandemic when transmission between humans becomes widespread in at least two regions of the world. full BBC article
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