The head of Georgia's Division of Public Health said Thursday a 30-year-old woman from Kentucky who had traveled to LaGrange in west Georgia had fallen ill. She had been in Cancun, Mexico earlier this month.

The World Health Organization has raised its alert level to Phase 5, the second-highest, indicating a pandemic may be imminent.

Swine flu has symptoms nearly identical to regular flu - fever, cough and sore throat - and spreads like regular flu, through tiny particles in the air, when people cough or sneeze.

People with flu symptoms are advised to stay at home, wash their hands and cover their sneezes.