April 26 (Bloomberg) -- Six people in Canada contracted swine flu, which has been linked to a virus that spread in Mexico with pandemic potential, and more cases are likely, provincial governments in the country said.

Four people in Windsor, Nova Scotia, experienced mild symptoms of the flu and are recovering, Robert Strang, chief public health officer for the province, said in a statement.

“These cases are likely not the last,” Leona Aglukkaq, the federal minister of health, said at a news conference in Ottawa.

The outbreaks of the flu, linked to 81 deaths in Mexico, warrant an urgent assessment of its potential to spark the first influenza pandemic in 41 years, the World Health Organization said yesterday. The Geneva-based United Nations agency held an emergency meeting and decided that more evidence is needed to determine whether the worldwide alert level of should be increased.

Two people in British Columbia also contracted the disease, Aglukkaq said.

The Canadian cases were the first to be confirmed today in the country, since the outbreak in Mexico. Canadian officials won’t report suspected cases of the swine flu because people still contract the standard, non-pandemic, flu virus, David Butler-Jones, the country’s chief public health officer, said.

“This is obviously worrisome,” Butler-Jones said. “It’s difficult to say where it will lead us.”

The Canadians who contracted the virus didn’t have severe respiratory illnesses, he said.

“There is no reason for the Windsor community or Nova Scotians to be overly concerned,” Strang said. “No one, at this point, has been hospitalized.”

Air Canada, the country’s biggest airline, said today it won’t charge change fees to people who bought tickets to fly to Mexico City before April 30 and want to alter their plans.

To contact the reporter on this story: Joe Schneider in Toronto at Jschneider5@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: April 26, 2009 17:13 EDT