WHO Chief: Swine Flu Outbreak Could Become 'Pandemic'
Like we ain't got enough to worry about these days. . .
Fox News:
WHO Chief: Swine Flu Outbreak Could Become 'Pandemic'
Associated Press
GENEVA — The head of the World Health Organization says the swine flu outbreak in Mexico and the United States could develop into a pandemic.
WHO Director-General Margaret Chan says the outbreak involves "an animal strain of the H1N1 virus, and it has pandemic potential."
Chan says it is too early to say whether a pandemic will actually occur.
The global health body has advised countries around the world to look out for similar outbreaks following the discovery of related strains on both sides of the Mexico-U.S. border.
At least 62 people in Mexico have died from pneumonia after contracting a flu-like virus. WHO says some tested positive for a strain that sickened at least seven in the southwestern U.S.
No deaths have been reported in the U.S.
The World Health Organization called an emergency meeting of experts Saturday to consider declaring an international public health emergency over the flu outbreak, believed to have killed dozens of people in Mexico and sickened at least seven in the U.S.
It is the first time Chan has convened such a crisis panel since the procedure was created almost two years ago, spokesman Gregory Hartl said.
The committee may decide Saturday that the outbreak constitutes a public health emergency, and if so, whether WHO should consider measures including travel advisories, trade restrictions and border closures.
The global body's flu pandemic alert level is now set to phase three — meaning there is no or very limited risk of a new virus spreading from human to human.
The committee "will be asked, 'should we raise the alert level to phase four or phase five,' depending on their appreciation of how far the virus has spread," Hartl said.
An increased alert level was considered likely, as initial evidence from the outbreak in Mexico indicates the virus has spread between people. Hartl said, however, that a decision would not be made Saturday.
Some of those who died are confirmed to have contracted a type of swine flu known as A/H1N1. That particular flu variant has not previously been seen in pigs or humans, though other types of H1N1 have.
"This is a very high concern for us as the world's global health organization," Hartl said.
The current seasonal flu vaccine is not believed to offer any protection against this new swine flu. But anti-viral drug Tamiflu appears to be fully effective against the H1N1 virus, and "Mexico and the United States already have large stocks of Tamiflu," Hartl said.
The virus has caused alarm in Mexico, where more than 1,000 people have been sickened. Authorities there have closed schools, museums, libraries and theaters in a bid to contain the outbreak.
WHO, which has been monitoring the situation since Thursday, said 12 of the Mexican cases have been confirmed as genetically identical to a swine flu virus detected in California.
U.S. authorities said seven people were infected with swine flu in California and Texas, and all recovered.
"We do seem to have found incidents of the same illness, which is swine influenza A/H1N1, on both sides of the border in various locations," Hartl said.
WHO has sent experts to Mexico to monitor the situation there, and asked countries to report any unusual flu outbreaks.
"We are at the beginning of the outbreak here, and there are a lot of things that we still don't know," Hartl said.
"We're not sure exactly of the transmission routes, where the initial infection came from, how efficient it is in transmitting," he said. WHO is also questioning "why no one has died in the United States so far whereas there have been confirmed deaths in Mexico."
WHO chief Chan broke off a visit to Washington, where she was to meet with U.S. officials, to oversee WHO's response to the crisis from its Strategic Health Operation Center in Switzerland.
The virus appears to cause flu-like symptoms that can develop into severe pneumonia, Hartl said, urging anyone to visit a doctor if they had been to affected areas and were feeling symptoms.
"You would want to take the same kind of precautions that you would do with pneumonia and an influenza-like illness," he said.
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