WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The pandemic of swine flu may be hitting a peak in the Northern Hemisphere, global health officials said on Friday, but they cautioned it was far from over.
Officials also said they were investigating several troubling outbreaks of drug-resistant H1N1 but noted they were limited so far and that there were no indications yet the virus was mutating in a sustained way.
The World Health Organization said H1N1 flu was moving eastward across Europe and Asia after appearing to peak in parts of Western Europe and the United States.
At least 6,770 deaths have been recorded worldwide since the swine flu virus emerged in April -- but officials always stress the confirmed count represents only a fraction of the actual cases, as most patients never get tested.
There are "early signs of a peak in disease activity in some areas of the northern hemisphere," the WHO said in a statement.
Transmission keeps intensifying in Canada, with the highest number of doctor visits by children. But U.S. officials saw signs of a slowdown.
SOME DECLINES
"We are beginning to see some declines in flu activity around the country but there is still a lot of influenza," the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Dr. Anne Schuchat told a news conference.
"It is still much greater than we would normally see this time of year."
A team at flu test maker Quest Diagnostics analyzed 142,000 U.S. flu tests and found a similar pattern, with tests showing a decline in flu-like illness since October 27.
WHO said Norway and countries farther east including Georgia, Lithuania, Moldova and Serbia were reporting sharp increases in influenza-like illness or acute respiratory infection.
Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and parts of Afghanistan -- particularly the capital, Kabul -- are reporting higher numbers of flu cases. Israel is also reporting sharp increases.
"Essentially what is happening is that it is spreading eastward," Anthony Mounts of WHO's influenza team told Reuters. "Typically, seasonal influenza always starts west and moves eastward. It seems to be following that pattern except it is coming very early this year."
