Although the spread of swine flu appears to be accelerating and the virus begins to dominate global headlines the-World Organisation health (WHO) stopped short catch the pandemic alert level this weekend, even if she can do it on Monday or Tuesday. The Obama administration has said the threat of swine flu a public health emergency, however, and many countries have begun to put in place measures to stop the virus.
There are now 20 laboratory confirmed cases of swine flu in the United States in California, Texas, Kansas, New York and Ohio. The Mexican Government has reported 18 laboratory confirmed cases, according to WHO. Several other countries, including New Zealand and France have reported suspected or possible cases.
At a press conference today, US officials seemed determined to avoid panic while at the same time prepare the public for the possibility of a large epidemic. "It moves quickly," said CDC Director Richard Besser Acting at a press conference of the House from noon Blanche. "But we want you to understand that we view this more as a marathon."
WHO declared swine flu a "global reach emergency of public health," said flu expert Keiji Fukuda agency reporters today on a conference call from Geneva. meeting Saturday to discuss the situation, wHO emergency Committee decided that more information on the spread of the virus is needed before the wHO pandemic alert level may be increased from 3 to 4, which would signal a change of "human to sustainable human transmission" and "a significantly increased risk of pandemic." The situation will be reviewed on Tuesday, or earlier if necessary, Fukuda said.
Many questions remain about the virus. An enigma is the severity of the disease it causes. The 20 American patients had mild disease; one was hospitalized briefly. In Mexico, however, there are at least 80 suspicious death of the virus. Experts have repeatedly pointed out, however, that most of the Mexican cases have been laboratory confirmed and that some may have died from other causes. International teams are in Mexico to investigate the situation.
Fukuda said today that two of the eight genetic elements of virus appears to come from a strain of the common swine flu in Europe and Asia, while the rest are typical of American swine flu strains. This information seems to contradict a statement by CDC, which said Thursday that the new strain of swine flu contained genetic elements from strains of human and avian influenza as well. During the press conference today, Anne Schuchat, interim deputy director for science and public health at the CDC, refused to answer a question about the genetic makeup of the virus.
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