Pandemic risk grows as new cases pop up

The number of confirmed cases of a deadly new strain of the flu continued to rise Monday, as the World Health Organization moved one step closer to declaring a pandemic. The United Nations public-health agency raised its global alert to phase 4 from phase 3. The change recognizes that the new A/H1N1 virus spreads from person to person, and signals that governments should prepare for outbreaks. Phase 6 is a pandemic.