The United Nations health agency on Wednesday raised its six-level pandemic alert to phase 5, which indicates that a pandemic is “imminent,” in response to new cases of the swine flu virus. “All countries should immediately activate their pandemic preparedness plans,” said World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Margaret Chan speaking to reporters in Geneva late Wednesday evening. According to the WHO website, “Phase 5 is characterized by human-to-human spread of the virus into at least two countries in one WHO region.” “While most countries will not be affected at this stage, the declaration of Phase 5 is a strong signal that a pandemic is imminent and that the time to finalize the organization, communication, and implementation of the planned mitigation measures is short,” the WHO website said. WHO opened a scientific review Wednesday to determine exactly what is known about how the swine flu disease spreads, how it affects human health and how it can be treated. Dr. Nikki Shindo, a WHO flu expert, said the review would focus on the large amount of data coming from Mexico and from a school in New York City that has been hard-hit by the outbreak. So far, Mexico and the United States are the only two countries to have recorded confirmed deaths as a result of the virus. The WHO has confirmed 114 cases of the virus worldwide, and confirmed cases have been recorded in seven countries: Mexico, the United States, Canada, Britain, Israel, New Zealand and Spain.
