WHO: Pandemic imminent (raises alert level to 5)

[Bluebear]

Swine flu: pandemic alert level raised to level 5

The World Health Organisation tonight raised the pandemic alert level to five out of six after the continued spread of swine flu world wide.

Margaret Chan, the organisation's director-general, said tonight: "I have decided to raise the current level of influenza pandemic alert from phase 4 to phase 5.

"Influenza pandemics must be taken seriously precisely because of their capacity to spread rapidly to every country in the world."

Making a call to governments, she said: "This change to a higher phase of alert is a signal to governments, to ministries of health and other industries, to the pharmaceutical industry and business industry that certain actions must be undertaken now with increased urgency and at an accelerated pace."

She warned: "It really is all of humanity that is under threat in a pandemic."


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article6194859.ece

[Bluebear]

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