Swine Flu – Phase 6 Alert May Be Called by WHO

Swine Flu Update- Get the latest as of May 3rd, 2009—

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By Tom Randall and Dermot Doherty

May 3 (Bloomberg) — The World Health Organization may designate the outbreak of H1N1 influenza as a pandemic by raising its six-stage alert level to its highest step even as many cases of swine flu show symptoms no more severe than seasonal flu, health officials said.

The WHO isn’t seeing sustained community transmission of the virus, known formally as influenza A H1N1, outside of North America, said Michael Ryan, the WHO’s director of global alert and response, at a news conference yesterday in Geneva where the UN health agency is based.

Ireland became the 17th country yesterday to confirm swine flu and the new virus may be spreading in five nations among people unconnected to Mexico, where cases were first reported. The health minister in Mexico said yesterday the country had no new deaths attributed to the virus.

“At this stage we have to expect that phase 6 will be reached; we have to hope that it won’t be reached,” Ryan said. “I would still propose that a pandemic is imminent.”..read more here…