This just in, from Newser:
(Newser) – The World Health Organization is set to declare the first influenza pandemic in more than 40 years, health sources tell Reuters, triggering heightened measures in 193 countries. Flu experts have advised elevating the risk of swine flu to phase 6, the highest level. That designation refers to the geographical spread of the disease, not the severity—and public health officials now say that swine flu is a relatively mild disease.
"Pandemic means global, but it doesn't have any connotation of severity or mildness," said one WHO official. "This event is really a moderate event for the time being, because the numbers are high but the disease is overwhelmingly mild." To date 27,737 people have been infected with swine flu in 74 countries, but only 141 have died, mostly in Mexico.
Source: Reuters
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