# 3157
The spread of the H1N1 virus in Mexico, the United States, and Canada has been established as being sustained human-to-human.
Only about 10% of the confirmed human cases in the US have a travel history to Mexico, and that percentage continues to drop.
In Europe, where many countries are just now gaining the ability to test for this novel A/H1N1 (The Influenza Previous Known As `Swine’) virus, sustained transmission has not yet been documented.
Under the current WHO guidelines, should sustained transmission be detected in 2 or more (of the 6) WHO regions, pandemic phase 6 would be declared.
A `Pandemic’ - using the WHO’s definition and not Stephen King’s - is based on geographic spread of a new disease . . . not the severity of illness.
WHO Member States are grouped into six regions. Each region has a regional office. The map shows the WHO regions and the location of the regional offices.
:: Regional Office for Africa
:: Regional Office for the Americas
:: Regional Office for South-East Asia
:: Regional Office for Europe
:: Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean
:: Regional Office for the Western Pacific
Therefore, all eyes right now are on the other WHO regions, and particularly Europe, which so far has seen the most cases and where testing for the virus improves with each day.
While the WHO takes a more macro view of things, the European Centers For Disease Control (ECDC) is responsible for the monitoring of disease outbreaks in European nations.
The ECDC now issues a daily situation report on the spread of the virus through Europe. A resource we’ll be watching closely over the coming days and weeks.
Their current assessment of the situation reads:
No sustained community transmission is currently reported from any EU and EFTA countries, however sporadic cases of in-country transmission are continuing to be identified.
This morning’s report lists these major developments over the past 24 hours.
- 17 new confirmed cases reported from EU and EFTA countries;
- Five new cases of in-country transmission were reported from the UK all related to previous confirmed cases inside a school;
- First in-country transmission reported from Italy;
- Outside of EU and EFTA countries, 3278 confirmed cases are reported;
- First cases were confirmed in Australia (1), Japan (3), Argentina (1), Panama (1), Brazil (4);
- Two more deaths were reported: Mexico (1), Canada (1)
- The European Medicines Agency (EMEA) published recommendations regarding the use of Tamiflu in pregnant and breastfeeding women and children under the age of 1 year during an officially declared influenza A (H1N1) pandemic;
- EMEA published recommendations regarding the extension of shelf-life of Tamiflu capsules for an additional 2 years (5 to 7 years);
