H1N1 Flu Now a Pandemic

GENEVA, Switzerland–H1N1, commonly known as the swine flu, is now considered a global pandemic by the World Health Organization. Nearly 30,000 cases and 144 deaths have been reported worldwide, causing WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan today to declare the first global flu epidemic in 41 years.
 
Spread of the rogue flu in Australia, which has reported 1,263 cases, sparked a teleconference between Chan and flu experts, leading to the decision to raise the pandemic alert level from phase 5 to phase 6 and shift government actions from preparedness to response.
 
Seventy-four countries have now been affected, according to WHO, which has reported 28,774 cases of the HIN1 infection, including 144 deaths.
 
Though she labeled it as “moderate,” Chan stated that the flu virus is unstoppable. “The world is moving into the early days of its first influenza pandemic in the 21st century,” Chan told reporters, adding there was wider spread of the flu than what was being officially reported.
 
In the United States, there have been 13,217 cases and at least 27 deaths from H1N1, but Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials said the new pandemic level would not change how the U.S. tackled the flu.
 
“Our actions in the past month have been as if there was a pandemic in this country,” Glen Nowak, a CDC spokesman, told the Associated Press.
 
The government has taken steps to stop spread of the virus by increasing the availability of flu-fighting medicines and authorizing $1 billion for the development of a new vaccine before the country’s regular flu season hits this fall.
 
For more, see “Keep Those Hands Washed, Health Officials Say.”