MADRID (AP) -- Spain on Monday became the first nation outside North America to confirm a case of swine flu, and the European Union health commissioner urged Europeans to postpone nonessential travel to parts of the United States and Mexico due to the deadly flu. The number of confirmed swine flu cases in the United States has doubled to 40, the World Health Organization announced Monday, saying it "very concerned" about the disease's spread. The U.N. agency said it could decide within hours whether to raise its pandemic alert level. The number of suspected cases in Mexico has climbed to 1,614, including as many as 103 deaths, while Canada has six confirmed cases. Russia, Hong Kong and Taiwan said visitors returning from flu-affected areas with fevers would be quarantined, while countries from New Zealand to Israel quickly instituted new security measures at airports and put sick travelers under observation. (21 images)
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People wearing protective masks pay respects to Our Lady of Guadalupe as they passed over a walkway under Guadalupe's shrine at the Basilica de Guadalupe in Mexico City, on Sunday, April 26. Mexico's biggest Catholic church, was shut down and masses were canceled as a precaution to keep large crowds away as more deaths are believed to have been caused by the swine flu outbreak that continued to plague Mexico City. AP / Julio Cortez
Health officials check passengers from Los Angeles through Taipei at the arrival hall of Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, Malaysia, Monday, April 27. Malaysia's Health Ministry has issued a statement, saying it has set up an operations room to monitor the situation and coordinate with WHO. AP / Lai Seng
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Passengers, wearing surgical masks as a precaution against infection, arrive at the airport in Mexico City, Sunday, April 26. Health workers screened airports and bus stations Sunday for people sickened by a new strain of swine flu that experts fear could become a global epidemic. AP / Marco Ugarte
Pilots wearing masks arrive at Barajas Airport in Madrid Monday, April 27. Spain on Monday became the first nation outside North America to confirm a case of a swine flu, while countries from New Zealand to Israel quickly instituted new security measures at airports and put sick travelers under observation. AP / Arturo Rodriguez
A taxi driver and his customer wear surgical masks in Mexico City, Sunday, April 26. A fatal strain of swine flu has been detected in Mexico and experts fear it could become a global epidemic. AP / Enric Marti
Axel Sanchez wears a protective face mask as he waits for his flight at the airport in Tijuana, Mexico, Sunday, April 26. AP / Guillermo Arias
A couple wearing masks kisses at the Historic Center in Mexico City on April 25. An outbreak of deadly swine flu in Mexico and the United States has raised the specter of a new virus against which much of humanity would have little or no immunity. AFP / Getty Images / Alfredo Estrella
A street musician wearing a surgical mask plays in a square at the Coyoacan neighborhood in Mexico City, Sunday, April 26. Public officials closed stadiums to the public Sunday, church services were canceled and health workers screened airports and bus stations for people sickened by a new strain of swine flu that experts fear could become a global epidemic. AP / Enric Marti
Mexican athletes wearing face masks at the Nationals Olympics 2009 in Tijuana on April 26. The Mexican national games were canceled due an outbreak of swine flu In Mexico. AFP / Getty Images / Daniel Conejo
A woman wearing a mask sits inside the subway at the Pino Suarez station in Mexico City, on April 26. As a preventive measure against contagion of the deadly swine flu virus, more than 500 cultural and athletic events -- including mass celebration-- were canceled by government order in the capital city alone. Authorities banned large gatherings for at least 10 days. AFP / Getty Images / Alfredo Estrella
Women wearing surgical masks pray in the Zocalo plaza in Mexico City, Sunday, April 26. AP / Dario Lopez-Mills
Two workers of the Guadalupe's Basilica attend mass wearing preventive masks during a celebration without parishoners, in Mexico City on April 26. AFP / Getty Images / Luis Acosta
Nuns wear face masks during a closed door mass at the Metropolitan Cathedral in Mexico City, Sunday, April 26. AP / Dario Lopez-Mills
Catholics who entered a closed door mass line up for a communion wafer from Mexico's Carinal Norberto Rivera, right, at the Metropolitan Cathedral in Mexico City, Sunday, April 26. AP / Dario Lopez-Mills
A Mexican soldier hands out masks inside the subway at the Pino Suarez station in Mexico City, on April 26. AFP / Getty Images / Alfredo Estrella
A member of the Mexican Navy stands guard at Pantitlan subway station in Mexico City, on April 26. AFP / Getty Images / Alfredo Estrella
Police officers patrol the streets of Mexico City wearing masks to ward off infection by the new multi-strain swine flu virus, on April 26. Mexico's president, Felipe Calderon, on Sunday called for calm in the face a swine flu outbreak that has killed dozens of people in the country, urging citizens to work with authorities to contain the virus. Suspected swine flu cases were being tested in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, after the new strain emerged out of Mexico several days ago. AFP / Getty Images / Luis Acosta
Riot police stand in front of Mexico's National Autonomous University soccer stadium, which was closed to the public, shortly before a game with Chivas in Mexico City, Sunday, April 26. AP / Marco Ugarte
Members of a familiy walking along Juarez Avenue in Mexico City wear surgical masks to ward off infection by the new multi-strain swine flu virus, on April 26. AFP / Getty Images / Alfredo Estrella
Erika Cruz, left, helps her husband Miguel Anguel Esquivel walk toward the emergency entrance of the National Institute of Respiratory Illnesses in Mexico City on Sunday, April 26. They were seeking help for Esquivel, who was visibly ill and was grunting, sweating and wearing tissue paper in his ears as the couple hurried to the hospital with him showing symptoms of the influenza virus that has plagued the city. Houston Chronicle / Julio Cortez
San Diego County micro-biologist Ayesha Khan does research on samples at the San Diego County Public Health lab in San Diego Sunday, April, 26. The agency is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the California Department of Public Health to determine how four people in San Diego county became infected with the swine flu. If the tests show a strain of the flu virus that is not recognized, the samples are sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to be further tested for the swine flu. AP / Denis Poroy
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