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WHO Set to Raise Swine Flu Alert Level to 6 and Declare Pandemic
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by Rob Walker | May 4, 2009 at 06:00 am
1563 views | 54 Recommendations | 14 comments
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At least 226 swine flu cases have been reported in the United States and the World Health Organization is set to raise the alert level to 6 and declare a pandemic. WHO officials say not to panic and a level 6 pandemic level is not 'the end of the world'.
The warning is there to keep countries from becoming overconfident and make sure they don't allow H1N1 the opportunity to mix with other viruses.
"Level six does not mean, in any way, that we are facing the end of the world. It is important to make this clear because (otherwise) when we announce level six it will cause an unnecessary panic," Reuters reported WHO Director General Margaret Chan told Spanish newspaper El Pais."Flu viruses are very unpredictable, very deceptive... We should not be overconfident. One must not give H1N1 the opportunity to mix with other viruses. That is why we are on alert," she reportedly told the newspaper.
They said most cases were mild - although a small boy visiting from Mexico died - and the spread was no worse than seasonal flu.Mexico, where the outbreak originated, says cases of new infections are declining and authorities will decide on whether to allow schools to reopen.
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (14)
at 06:18 on May 4th, 2009
THERE IS NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT.....????
I am going to crawl into a cave for a few years.
at 06:29 on May 4th, 2009
in the mean time 2080 people have died of Meningitis over the past two weeks in West Africa. They certainly do not worry about Swine Flue.
at 07:20 on May 4th, 2009
Time had an interesting article this weekend about this.
"Swine flu has been making headlines in the Western world, but in places like India and Africa, where "pandemic" is just another part of the daily vocabulary, no one has so much as stifled a sneeze.
In Africa, malaria kills more than 3,000 children a day; in South Africa, HIV/AIDS has taken 2.8 million people and infected 5.3 million more. Every day in India, 1,000 people succumb to tuberculosis. Those are just the big diseases.
So, when the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that deaths in Mexico from the H1N1 swine flu leapt to 16, you can see why the news didn't make the front page in Africa or India."
at 06:34 on May 4th, 2009
Thanks for this. I don.t understand why they want to raise it. It seems to be petering out by all accounts. There is the fear that it will come back this coming winter.
at 07:15 on May 4th, 2009
What Phase 6 Means:
Phase 5, human-to-human spread of the virus in at least two countries in the same region. This is a strong signal that a pandemic is imminent, with little time left to finish preparations.
Phase 6, global pandemic has begun. This includes community level outbreaks in at least one other region. This may trigger countries to activate their own pandemic response plans, though some countries may already have done this in phases 4 or 5.
at 07:59 on May 4th, 2009
Sign of the times... Picture.
at 09:32 on May 4th, 2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qJQCJp4ehc&feature=channel_page
at 11:25 on May 4th, 2009
Woaw - lets hope and pray things can get better. this is crazy.
at 12:20 on May 4th, 2009
What a coincidence, real evidence comes out tying Cheney and the Neocons to torture and a 'pandemic' breaks out. So sick of this garbage. There's real evil in the world.
at 14:39 on May 4th, 2009
Remember the days when Bush would issue "Yellow Alert". Sounds like the same scare tactic. That way they can scare people into submission.
This would be a good way to scare people into a one world order.
at 13:05 on May 4th, 2009
AIDS is difficult to contract. You have to have sex or share needles. It is not a pandemic in that sense.
Malaria used to wipe out 25% of the people in Philadelphia. We cleaned up the marshes and reduced the mosquito population. We should start allowing those afflicted by malaria to use DDT, which has been totally misrepresented as a threat to the environment and to people when it is not.
Getting back to swine flu, the problem with this disease is that it is highly contagious, unlike AIDS. If it mutates at all in a more lethal direction, and if that mortality rate is only 2%, which is actually lower than the mortality rate in Mexico now, then with, let's say, a couple of a hundred million cases, about 2 to 4 million people would die and they would be from all age groups, not just the very young and the very old..
That is why there is so much concern.
at 13:07 on May 4th, 2009
WHO's a Joke
at 13:23 on May 4th, 2009
WHO issued its 14th update regarding the influenza AH1N1 at level 5 pandemic alert.
Source: who.int
at 13:14 on May 5th, 2009
I dont Know Why people are worring There is a cure called oinksip and It Is just like normal Flu also they are advising to wash hands if you want to be SUPER cauations.