Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Margaret Chan warned here on Wednesday of more A/H1N1 flu cases in Africa in the near future than currently reported.

Chan told reporters at the Entebbe International airport, 40 km south of the Ugandan capital of Kampala that some experts have doubted the capacity of some African laboratories in detecting the disease and some patients may spread the disease but recover without medication.

"You may see a smaller number of cases here but it should not come as a surprise that you will see more cases in weeks or months ahead," she said when starting a three-day working visit here after a trip to Tanzania.

She is in the country with Raymond Chambers, UN secretary general's special envoy for malaria and Tadataka Yamada, president of the Global Health Program at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to review Uganda's successes and challenges in fighting malaria.

Chan hailed Uganda for putting up effective pandemic containing system, which had been tested by previous outbreaks of Ebola, Marburg and meningitis.

Uganda has so far reported nine cases of A/H1N1 flu, of which five were imported cases, since the first case was confirmed in early July. No death resulting from the epidemic was yet reported in the country.

The WHO top official also urged communities to have good personal hygiene as pharmaceutical interventions like antiviral drugs and possibly a vaccine are being pursued.

The A/H1N1 flu is transmitted through the air as a result of sneezing, coughing or touching contaminated materials or surfaces. The symptoms of the disease include sudden on-set of fever, sore throat, cough and flu. They occur within three to seven days after contact with an infected person.

In Africa, cases have been reported in countries like Uganda, Kenya, South Africa, among others.

Source: Xinhua