Swine Flu – Pandemic Alert level Raised To 5
April 29, 2009 by national
Filed under National Interest
The World Health Organization raised its pandemic alert to 5, its second-highest level Wednesday, indicating the outbreak of swine flu that originated in Mexico is nearing widespread human infection.
Dr. Margaret Chan, the U.N. agency’s director-general, said the decision means that all countries should “immediately” activate pandemic preparedness plans.
“This change to a higher phase of alert is a signal to governments, to ministries of health and other ministries, to the pharm industry and the business community that certain actions now should be taken with increased urgency and at an accelerated pace,” Chan said.
The announcement came as the number of people infected with swine flu increased rapidly across the world, and health officials scrambled to get more information about the virus — which has no vaccine.
Phase 5 alert means there is sustained human to human spread in at least two countries. It also signals that efforts to produce a vaccine will be ramped up.
Swine Flu – WHO Raises Pandemic Alert Level To 4
The World Health Organization has raised the pandemic alert level to 4 due to the swine flu outbreak, the highest since the scale was developed in 2005.
Read the announcement.
The scale has six phases, with 4 through 6 being the most serious:
• Phase 4 is characterized by verified human-to-human transmission of an animal or human-animal influenza reassortant virus able to cause “community-level outbreaks.”
The ability to cause sustained disease outbreaks in a community marks a significant upwards shift in the risk for a pandemic. Any country that suspects or has verified such an event should urgently consult with WHO so that the situation can be jointly assessed and a decision made by the affected country if implementation of a rapid pandemic containment operation is warranted. Phase 4 indicates a significant increase in risk of a pandemic but does not necessarily mean that a pandemic is a forgone conclusion.
• Phase 5 is characterized by human-to-human spread of the virus into at least two countries in one WHO region. While most countries will not be affected at this stage, the declaration of Phase 5 is a strong signal that a pandemic is imminent and that the time to finalize the organization, communication, and implementation of the planned mitigation measures is short.
• Phase 6, the pandemic phase, is characterized by community level outbreaks in at least one other country in a different WHO region in addition to the criteria defined in Phase 5. Designation of this phase will indicate that a global pandemic is under way.
The latest WHO updates can be found here.
The Obama administration is already responding as if the outbreak were a pandemic, Janet Napolitano, head of the Homeland Security Department, told reporters earlier.
“We want to make sure that we have people where they need to be, equipment where it needs to be and, most of all, information shared at all levels,” she said. “We are proceeding as if we are preparing to a full pandemic,” she said.
Travel warnings to Mexico would remain in effect as long as swine flu is detected, she added.
