The World Health Organization (WHO) cautioned Filipinos Wednesday against overreaction to WHO’s increased alert level on swine flu, pointing out that the pandemic is only “moderate in severity.” A state of calamity was however declared Wednesday in Jaen, Nueva Ecija (NE).

Charles Patrick Raby, chief of WHO in Western Pacific Region on Coordination, Transition, and Publication, made the statement in an apparent attempt to calm Filipinos on the quick spread of the influenza A (H1N1) virus in the Philippines.

In an exclusive interview, Raby noted that the fatality rate of A-H1N1 influenza virus has been “relatively low” compared to other global diseases such as avian flu, which killed a total of 263 people all over the world more than a decade ago.

Raby noted that the cases in the Philippines have risen to 247, but many of them have recovered and the rest who are still under observation or self-quarantine “are not likely to die.”

Wednesday, Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III said the cases have risen to 311 as new cases were reported as the municipality of Jaen, Nueva Ecija declared the town under a state of calamity with 23 flu cases and over 100 under observation.

The WHO official said that even though the influenza disease has spread like wildfire all over the world, including the Philippines, the severity of the A-H1N1 virus is still considered “moderate.”

“There are some diseases that killed a lot of people more than this one. It's definitely an influenza which is infectious and spreads rapidly but for the moment, the severity is moderate. Not too many had died,” Raby said after giving a lecture at Pan Pacific Hotel in Manila on Tuesday.

“So the severity of the disease itself is mild, which means that if you get it, you are very unlikely to die. That's what we mean when we said that the pandemic is mild in terms of severity,” the WHO official told the Manila Bulletin.

In 1997, the H5N1 virus or the avian flu killed a total of 263 people all over the world and had a fatality rate of 33 percent while global health experts estimated swine flu's fatality rate at roughly 0.4 percent, which is slightly higher than seasonal flus.

Last Thursday, WHO officials declared swine flu as the global pandemic after 41 years at Phase 6, which is the highest level in recognition of the fact the virus is undergoing community-wide transmission in many parts of the globe, particularly Australia and the United States.

There have been almost 28,000 confirmed cases of swine flu all over the globe, including the recorded 141 deaths. Health experts fear that the death toll may rise.