( CNN ) -- A sharp increase in the number of reported cases of the H1N1 virus in Australia may prompt the World Health Organization ( WHO ) to declare the first global pandemic in over forty years . Australian rugby league star Karmichael Hunt is one of several players being tested for the H1N1 virus . The number of Australian cases of the virus , commonly known as swine flu , has reached more than 1,200 , with state and federal medical officers set to hold an emergency meeting in Sydney to review the country 's swine flu protection measures . `` We will take each decision along the way in response to the expert medical advice , '' Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation ( ABC ) . On Wednesday it was announced that the entire Brisbane Broncos rugby league squad had been placed into quarantine after one of their players was suspected of having the virus . The Queensland club confirmed on its Web site that full-back Karmichael Hunt was being tested for the virus , while the sport 's governing body , the National Rugby League ( NRL ) , said Hunt had tested positive for the common flu , influenza A . With over 26,000 H1N1 cases worldwide , the WHO could move to Phase 6 , the highest on its pandemic alert system . `` It 's really a matter of making sure that countries are prepared as possible . We do not want people to overly panic , '' Keiji Fukuda , WHO 's Assistant Director General , told ABC . In a statement a day earlier , Fukuda said the WHO had been working extremely hard preparing countries for what a potential move to a global pandemic would entail . `` I want to point out that by going to Phase 6 the activity has become established in at least two regions of the world , '' he said . `` It does not mean that the severity of the situation has increased and that people are getting seriously sick at higher numbers or higher rates than they are right now . ''
Australian cases of the H1N1 virus reach more than 1,200 . The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that a new flu strain could be on its way to Australia. Designation does not reflect the severity of the disease , but how widespread it is .