A new flu virus suspected of killing at least 60 people in Mexico has the potential to become a pandemic, the World Health Organization's chief says.
Margaret Chan said the outbreak was a "serious situation" which needed to be followed closely.
Health experts say tests so far seem to link the illnesses in Mexico with a swine flu virus in the southern US.
A top US health official said the strain of swine flu had spread widely and could not be contained.
Ms Chan cut short a visit to the US and returned to Geneva where the WHO's emergency committee met.
The committee can recommend declaring an international public health emergency and raise the global pandemic alert level - a move that could lead to travel advisories, trade restrictions and border closures.
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I work as a resident doctor in one of the biggest hospitals in Mexico City and sadly, the situation is far from 'under control'
Yeny Gregorio Davila, Mexico City
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The WHO says it does not know the full risk yet.
It is advising all member states to be vigilant for seasonally unusual flu or pneumonia-like symptoms among their populations - particularly among young healthy adults, who seem to be the most affected in Mexico.
Officials said most of those killed so far were young adults - rather than more vulnerable children and the elderly.
Containment 'not feasible'
Schools, museums and libraries have been closed across the capital region and people are being urged to avoid shaking hands or sharing crockery.
A group of nuns walk wearing surgical masks in Mexico City
The RC church has issued advice to its priests to help halt the spread of the flu
All public events have been suspended, an official said. Two previously sold-out soccer matches were played in empty stadiums to avoid potentially spreading the virus.
The Roman Catholic Church in Mexico has recommended measures to avoid further contagion at Mass this Sunday.
Priests have been told to place communion wafers in the hands of worshippers rather than in their mouths and to suggest to the congregation that kissing or shaking hands be avoided during the service.
The US is watching the situation south of the border closely.
"With infections in many different communities as we're seeing, we don't think that containment is feasible," said Anne Schuchat of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
"We are not at a point where we can keep this virus in one place... Now that we are looking more widely, I really expect us to find more."
The CDC said preliminary tests on seven out of 14 samples from patients in Mexico had matched the virus found in the US.
Eight people have fallen sick in the US - six in California and two in Texas - with a virus the WHO say was the same as the new strain of swine flu, designated H1N1.
All eight have recovered and only one was hospitalised.
Hopeful sign
The CDC said it planned to send experts to Mexico to help investigate the virus which has infected more than 1,000 people in the country.
SWINE FLU
Swine flu is a respiratory disease found in pigs
Human cases usually occur in those who have contact with pigs
Human-to-human transmission is rare and such cases are closely monitored
Q&A: Swine flu
Ms Chan confirmed the virus was an animal strain - a mixture of swine, human and avian flu viruses.
The BBC science editor Susan Watts says the new strain is a classic "re-assortment" - a combination feared most by those watching for the flu pandemic.
But she says possibly one hopeful sign is that, of the eight cases in the US, there has been only one requiring hospital treatment, and no deaths.
So it may turn out there is some other kind of infection at work in Mexico, as well as the new flu virus.
Swine flu is a respiratory disease which infects pigs. It does not normally infect humans, although sporadic cases do occur usually in people who have had close contact with pigs.
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