# 3202
While community spread of the A/H1N1 virus is obviously taking place in North America (Mexico, US, and Canada), it has yet to be `documented’ in any of the other 5 WHO (World Health Organization) regions of the world.
Doing so would probably force the WHO to declare a Pandemic Alert Level 6, which is a step a number of nations are lobbying against (or at least hoping to delay).
While there is currently no reason to believe that the H1N1 virus acts any differently on European or Asian soil, many countries outside of the Americas have only recently started testing for the virus.
This `testing gap’ has provided some `cover’ for the WHO as they have delayed raising the global pandemic level, but that `cover’ may soon evaporate.
Japan, which is part of the WHO’s Western Pacific Region, appears to be teetering on the brink of documenting community spread of the virus.
They have 3 students, none of which have traveled abroad, testing positive for the virus. Three positive cases aren’t enough to declare community spread, of course.
But it does significantly raise concerns.
In an attempt to stop the spread of the virus 75 schools in Kobe, Japan are being closed. The government has promised `action to stop the infection from spreading.’
This report from AFP.
Japan reports three swine flu cases
Shingo Ito
May 16, 2009 - 10:49PMJapan confirmed three domestic swine flu infections on Saturday, all high school students who had not been abroad, and was testing at least 14 other suspected cases in two cities, officials said.
Health officials were testing five more teenagers from the same school in the western city of Kobe, while another nine school students were considered suspected cases in nearby Osaka city, officials said.
Prime Minister Taro Aso called on Japan's people to stay level-headed and vowed to take steps to prevent a wider outbreak.
"Please act calmly while being on alert," Aso said. "The government will carry out thorough inspections on the patients and on the people close to them. We will take action to stop the infection from spreading."
But former World Health Organisation senior official Shigeru Omi, now head of the government's special swine flu task force, warned that "we believe that the infection is beginning to spread in the region."
<snip>
Authorities in Kobe said they would temporarily close at least 75 schools and kindergartens and cancel festivals and other public events in some districts of the city, where fear of an outbreak was growing rapidly.
"It's totally beyond our imagination," said Seiichi Sakurai, of the city's health and welfare bureau. "The virus entered the country undetected. I'm afraid the infection may have already spread further."
