WHO on verge of declaring H1N1 flu pandemic

[thundley4]

GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Health Organization (WHO) is on the verge of declaring the first influenza pandemic in more than 40 years, but wants to ensure countries are well prepared to prevent a panic, its top flu expert said on Tuesday.

Keiji Fukuda, acting WHO assistant director-general, voiced concern at the sustained spread of the new H1N1 strain -- including more than 1,000 cases in Australia -- following major outbreaks in North America, where it emerged in April.

Confirmed community spread in a second region beyond North America would trigger moving to phase 6 -- signifying a full-blown pandemic -- from the current phase 5 on the WHO's 6-level pandemic alert scale.

"The situation has really evolved a lot over the past several days. We are getting really very close to knowing that we are in a pandemic situation, or I think, declaring that we are in a pandemic situation," Fukuda told a teleconference.

Everybody Pandemic

On a good note to this story.

China Quarantines New Orleans Mayor Nagin on Swine Flu Concerns
June 8 (Bloomberg) -- New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin was quarantined in Shanghai yesterday after another passenger on his flight was suspected by Chinese authorities of having swine flu.

Nagin doesn’t have any symptoms, is being treated with “utmost courtesy,” and remains in contact with his staff, the mayor’s office said in an e-mailed statement. He arrived in Shanghai on June 5 for on an economic-development trip.

China has instituted temperature checks at airports, quarantined foreign arrivals and halted pork imports from countries with infections in a bid to contain the spread of the disease. The nation had confirmed 73 infections as of June 6, with no fatalities, according to the Ministry of Health.

Nagin is also scheduled to travel to Sydney, where he is to lead a panel discussion on climate change at the 2009 National Summit of the United States Studies Center at the University of Sydney. (I'm sure his expertise in evacuation will be invaluable.His schedule may now be altered, the mayor’s office said. It didn’t say how long Nagin may be quarantined.

Six Americans in China have been confirmed to have the disease as of June 1, said Richard Buangan, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Beijing.

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[DumbAss Tanker]

I'm not sure calling it anything in particular is really going to matter a damn.

[Lord Undies]

Many thousands suffer with flu every year.  What makes this rather mild strain panic worthy?

[Duke Nukum]

Many thousands suffer with flu every year.  What makes this rather mild strain panic worthy?

Congress is trying to socialize health care.  And who knows, maybe the UN is hoping to get a global tax out of this.