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The WHO (World Health Organization) will meet later today (1400 GMT - Noon EDT) to discuss the recent outbreak of Swine Flu in Mexico, and the handful of cases now found in the United States.
Right now, the WHO's Pandemic Alert Phase is set at 3, which indicates that little-or-no human to human transmission of a newly emerging pandemic strain is taking place.
The next phase – level 4 – is supposed to be activated when they see signs of increased human-to-human spread.
Something which we appear to be seeing now.
There are political and economic consequences to going to phase 4, and particularly during a global recession, their may be some resistance to doing so quickly.
Given the complexity of taking this decision we may not get an announcement on a pandemic phase change today.
One has to hope that a decision can be reached quickly and that it is made based on the science at hand, not politics or economics.
It would be difficult to argue, at least from a scientific standpoint, that we haven’t crossed the threshold into phase 4 territory.
Current WHO phase of pandemic alert
Current phase of alert in the WHO global influenza preparedness plan
- WHO global influenza preparedness plan
Experts at WHO and elsewhere believe that the world is now closer to another influenza pandemic than at any time since 1968, when the last of the previous century's three pandemics occurred. WHO uses a series of six phases of pandemic alert as a system for informing the world of the seriousness of the threat and of the need to launch progressively more intense preparedness activities.
The designation of phases, including decisions on when to move from one phase to another, is made by the Director-General of WHO.
Each phase of alert coincides with a series of recommended activities to be undertaken by WHO, the international community, governments, and industry. Changes from one phase to another are triggered by several factors, which include the epidemiological behaviour of the disease and the characteristics of circulating viruses.
The world is presently in phase 3: a new influenza virus subtype is causing disease in humans, but is not yet spreading efficiently and sustainably among humans.
This report from Reuters.
WHO sets emergency meeting on swine flu outbreak
Sat Apr 25, 2009 12:53pm BST
GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Health Organisation said on Saturday it will hold an emergency meeting at 3:00 p.m. British time (1400 GMT) to discuss a deadly swine flu strain outbreak in Mexico and the United States.
WHO Director-General Margaret Chan called the "virtual meeting" that will link public health authorities and experts in various parts of the world "to seek their advice and guidance," WHO spokesman Fadela Chaib told Reuters.
Chan will also brief journalists about the outbreak -- which has killed up to 68 people in Mexico and infected 8 in the United States -- on a teleconference before the virtual meeting starts, at 2:00 p.m. British time (1300 GMT).
The experts will not necessarily issue firm recommendations on Saturday. Once more details are clear about the virus and its risks, the emergency panel could recommend a change in the WHO's pandemic alert level -- currently at 3 on a scale of 1 to 6 -- or recommend travel advisories to control the flu's spread.
(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Writing by Laura MacInnis)
