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Slovakia has announced the closure Sunday of all border crossings with Ukraine, because of the outbreak of H1N1 in this country. A crossing point, the largest, will remain open.

This measure stems from "the continuous deterioration of the epidemiological situation in Ukraine," said Interior Minister Robert Kalinak. He said the decision is temporary and is designed to protect the European Union, which Slovakia is a member.

Doctors will be sent to the checkpoint to examine passengers, with the power to prohibit the entry of anyone suspected of being infected.

The influenza virus H1N1 has infected more than 750,000 people in Ukraine, where hundreds perished. Kiev could postpone presidential elections from January to May due to the epidemic.

The World Health was on the alert Saturday, saying "very concerned" about the appearance of a swine flu virus that spreads among humans in the United States and Mexico, where he makes 20 fatal cases identified.

The virus was "clearly a potential pandemic" and the evolution of the situation is "unpredictable," warned the Director General of WHO Margaret Chan at a press conference call at the organization's headquarters in Geneva .

The non-affected countries should "increase their vigilance," claimed Ms. Chan, a specialist pandemics, returned the same morning the United States.

For her, this "new virus" identified as H1N1 and transmitted to humans constitutes a "serious situation".

"The most worrying is that (the virus) is transmitted from man to man", told AFP spokesman for WHO, Thomas Abraham, saying he had transferred "in genes never encountered before. "

"This is the first time we see an avian strain, two strains pig and a human strain, has also raised the head of the U.S. Centers for Control and prevention of diseases, Dave Daigle, who works closely with WHO.

These characteristics, together with the fact that the disease affects an age unusual for a bird - "young healthy adults - are fears of a serious epidemic, recalling the fears caused by avian influenza.

Especially since pigs are considered by experts as "crucibles" ideals that may give rise to a highly virulent strain for humans by combining genetic material from swine flu and avian flu.

According to WHO, they have been "involved in the emergence of new influenza viruses responsible for two pandemics of the twentieth century.

In Mexico, where 40 deaths were suspicious and a little more than a thousand patients placed under observation, authorities are already talking about the term epidemic.

The alert was given in the two countries, Mexico and the United States, where emergency operations centers have been opened. As the WHO has activated its "operations center" for managing emergencies.

For WHO, which has decided to send a special mission to Mexico, time is running out because the disease spreads geographically.

In Mexico, three homes were identified: the main city in Mexico, with 20 deaths from the virus (18 according to WHO), the second in central San Luis Potosi (24 cases including three deaths) and a third smaller, on the border with the United States, Mexicali (four non-fatal cases).

Evidence of the spread, the strain detected in 12 fatal cases in Mexico is "genetically identical" to that found in California in the United States, neighboring country where eight non-fatal cases have been identified, said WHO.

Moreover, in addition to California and Texas, suspect cases were reported in New York, where 75 students with flu symptoms were subjected to analysts, according to CNN.

Given the urgency, the Mexican authorities have ordered the total closure of schools and universities in Mexico and its state. The mayor of the capital decided on a mass vaccination campaign. Vaccines, however, were not available Friday, according to testimony.

"Vaccination is the second step," said the spokesman of the WHO stating that "vaccine production (was) possible since the virus was found" but needed "some time ".

Meanwhile, Tamiflu, a drug based oseltamivir used against bird flu, is effective for this virus, he said.

In the United States, a Mexican baby 23 months died of the H1N1 virus in Texas. The country is most affected after Mexico: 91 cases have been confirmed and 11 million antiviral treatment should be distributed. In California, authorities are investigating the cause of 2 deaths in the Los Angeles area and could be related to the swine flu. The state of emergency was declared, but the U.S. refused to close the border with Mexico. The U.S. president, Barack Obama, urged Tuesday the Congress to release $ 1.5 billion to strengthen the response capacity of the United States face a potential worsening of the epidemic. Moreover, the U.S. military investigation into a suspected case in a California Marine quarantined with the soldier who shared his room, while about thirty others are under surveillance, said Wednesday the head of the Marines.