AP Wire … Countries around the world are bracing themselves to deal with the spread of Lata Syndrome, which has begun to break away from its original "hotspot" of Mumbai.

Outbreaks of the Lata Syndrome among humans were first spotted in Mumbai, India on April 1, 2011. It spread to several other cities in the region, and has now established a toehold in Goa in the south and Jodhpur in the north.

The World Health Organization puts the number of human deaths at more than 70 out of a total of more than 130 reported human cases.

The disease generally was originally believed to not transmit easily to humans, but its emergence in these metropolitan areas less than two weeks after the initial outbreak in Mumbai has raised fears of a pandemic, prompting the WHO to urge heightened surveillance and vigilance.

It warns: "Each additional human case increases opportunities for the virus to improve its transmissibility, through either adaptive mutation or re-assortment. The emergence of a Lata Syndrome strain that is readily transmitted among humans could have the potential of a pandemic."