The World Health Organisation (WHO) yesterday told its member nations it was declaring a swine flu pandemic, the first global flu epidemic in 41 years, as infections climbed in the United States, Europe, Australia, South America and elsewhere.
In a statement sent to health officials, WHO said it decided to raise the pandemic warning level from phase five to six, its highest alert, after holding an emergency meeting with its flu experts.
WHO chief Dr Margaret Chan was expected to make a formal announcement on the pandemic later Thursday.
Swine flu vaccine
The long-awaited pandemic decision is scientific confirmation that a new flu virus has emerged and is quickly circling the globe. It will trigger drugmakers to speed up production of a swine flu vaccine and prompt governments to devote more money toward efforts to contain the virus.
"At this early stage, the pandemic can be characterised globally as being moderate in severity," WHO said in the statement, urging nations not to close borders or restrict travel and trade.
WHO also told countries it was in "close dialogue" with flu vaccine makers and it believed the firms would work "to ensure the largest possible supply of pandemic vaccine in the months to come".
Flu vaccine makers like GlaxoSmithKline PLC and Sanofi-Aventis have been working since last month on a swine flu vaccine. GlaxoSmithKline spokesman Stephen Rea said the company was ready to start making swine flu vaccine in large quantities once it finished its regular flu vaccine production in July.
On Wednesday, WHO said 74 countries had reported nearly 27,737 cases of swine flu, including 141 deaths. The agency has stressed that most cases have been mild and required no treatment, but the fear is that a rash of new infections could overwhelm hospitals and health authorities, especially in poorer countries.
Still, about half of the people who have died from swine flu, also known by its scientific name H1N1, were previously young and healthy, people who are not usually susceptible to flu.
Swine flu is also continuing to spread during the start of summer in the northern hemisphere. Normally, flu viruses disappear with warm weather but swine flu is proving to be resilient.
Declaration was delayed
The last pandemic, the Hong Kong flu of 1968, killed about one million people. Ordinary flu kills about 250,000 to 500,000 people each year.
Many health experts say WHO's pandemic declaration could have come weeks earlier but the agency became bogged down by politics. In May, several countries urged WHO not to declare a pandemic, fearing it would cause social and economic turmoil.
"This is WHO finally catching up with the facts," said Michael Osterholm, a flu expert at the University of Minnesota who has advised the US government on pandemic preparations.