The Boone County Health Department has confirmed two cases of swine flu in Boone County.

"Those with the swine flu are at home and are receiving treatment," a spokesperson at the Health Department told the Coal Valley News.

On June 11, 2009, the World Health Organization (WHO) raised the worldwide pandemic alert level to Phase 6.

"We've seen it go from a level 3 to a level 6 pretty fast in my experience, but this is something that we have been planning for three to four years. At that time, we thought it was the avian flu," Julie Miller, Nurse Practitioner and Administrator at the Boone County Health Department said.

A Phase 6 designation indicates that a global pandemic is underway, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

As of noon on Friday, June 12, the West Virginia State Health Department, or Department of Health and Human Resources, reported 69 cases of swine flu in West Virginia.

The breakdown by county is as follows:

Berkeley: 1

Boone: 2

Cabell: 5

Greenbrier: 1

Hancock: 1

Kanawha: 7

Lincoln: 1

Monongalia: 4

Putnam: 3

Raleigh: 1

Wood: 43

According to the DHHR, only one of these 69 cases have required hospitalization.

There have been no reported deaths caused by the H1N1 (swine flu) virus in West Virginia to date.