The World Health Organisation has raised its pandemic alert for swine flu to the second highest level, meaning that it believes a global outbreak of the disease is imminent.
The World Health Organisation has raised its pandemic alert for swine flu to the second highest level, meaning that it believes a global outbreak of the disease is imminent.
WHO Director-General Margaret Chan declared the phase 5 alert after consulting with flu experts from around the world.
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The decision could lead the global body to recommend additional measures to combat the outbreak, including asking vaccine manufacturers to switch production from seasonal flu vaccines to a pandemic vaccine.
"All countries should immediately now activate their pandemic preparedness plans," Chan told reporters in Geneva, yesterday. "It really is all of humanity that is under threat in a pandemic."
A phase 5 alert means there is sustained transmission among people in at least two countries. Once the virus shows effective transmission in two different regions of the world, a full pandemic outbreak would be declared. WHO has confirmed human cases of swine flu in Mexico, the United States, Canada, Britain, Israel, New Zealand and Spain.
Mexico and the US have reported deaths. WHO's flu chief Keiji Fukuda said it was clear that the virus is spreading. "We don't see any evidence that it is slowing down at this point," he said.
Chan earlier yesterday hosted a "scientific review" of the latest outbreak information, at which some 150 experts examined how swine flu spreads, its symptoms and how it can be treated.
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