WHO raises swine flu alert level

12 April 2012

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has raised its pandemic alert for a new strain of swine flu by one level, two steps short of declaring a full pandemic.

The WHO says the phase four alert means there is sustained human-to-human transmission in at least one country.

The WHO's assistant director-general Keiji Fukuda said "at this time containment is not a feasible option" as the virus has already spread to several other countries.

The WHO has confirmed human cases of swine flu in Mexico, the US, Canada and Spain. Only Mexico has reported deaths from the new strain.

WHO director-general Margaret Chan made the decision to raise the alert level from phase three after emergency consultations with flu experts from around the world. The WHO said in a statement: "The change to a higher phase of pandemic alert indicates that the likelihood of a pandemic has increased, but not that a pandemic is inevitable."

WHO's assistant director-general Keiji Fukuda said: "At this time containment is not a feasible option."

The global health body instead urged affected countries to mitigate any outbreaks.

Fukuda said the evolving crisis could easily push the pandemic alert higher or lower in the coming days, but the WHO is not recommending border closures or travel bans.

Earlier, the WHO said there were 73 confirmed cases of the disease worldwide and said it was "very concerned" about its spread. The WHO said the laboratory-confirmed cases included 40 in the United States, 26 in Mexico, six in Canada and one in Spain, which became the first outside North America to confirm a case of swine flu.

Mexico still appeared the centre, with 1,614 suspected cases, according to Mexican Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova. He said schools at all levels nationwide would be closed until May 6. Schools had already been suspended in Mexico City and five of Mexico's 32 states.

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