WHO getting close to declaring H1N1 pandemic

Reuters
June 9, 2009

The World Health Organisation said on Tuesday it was getting close to declaring a full-blown pandemic caused by the H1N1 virus, which has infected more than 26,500 people in 73 countries.

Keiji Fukuda, acting WHO assistant director-general, voiced concern at the sustained spread of the new strain in countries including Australia following major outbreaks in North America. Confirmed community spread in a second region would trigger moving to phase 6 from phase 5 on its 6-level pandemic alert scale. Fukuda, asked whether there was any doubt that a pandemic was under way, told a weekly teleconference: “We are really getting very close to that.”