Pig Flu

The CDC epidemiologist expert Joseph Bresee, describes how to recognize the signs and symptoms of swine flu including how swine flu is transmitted, appropriate medicines for treatment and steps to take to prevent or treat illness.

The World Health Organization has raised the level of pandemic alert from 4 to 5; 6 is considered a pandemic. But both levels 5 and 6 are considered to raise the awareness to great concern according to the World Health Organization. Chart showing the WHO pig flu levels of alertness.

Follows the statement by WHO Director-General, Dr Margaret Chan:

"Based on assessment of all available information, and following several expert consultations, I have decided to raise the current

A team from the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is on its way to Mexico Tuesday April 28 with the purporse of investigating the origin of the swin flu cases in Mexico.

The chief veterinary officer of the FAO, Joseph Domenech, told the BBC that rumours that people had been falling ill last month near some intensive pig farms meant the FAO had to act: "[We had] no indication of human cases of direct contact with pigs but this can never be totally sure and the probability that this virus could come from pigs directly could not be anyway ruled out totally"

The World Health Organization (WHO) has raised today the Influenza Pandemic Prepardness Level to Phase 4, making it one step below Pandemic. This level was raised based on evidence that it is being transmitted from human to human causing community level outbreaks.  See the descriptions of the phases from the WHO below.

Read Description of Phases

As of April 25 at 7:30 PM ET, The Center for Disease Control has confirmed 11 human cases of swine-pig flu in the United States: seven in California, two in Texas, and two in Kansas. CDC continues to investigate other suspected cases.  Investigations are ongoing to determine the source of the infection and whether additional people have been infected with similar swine influenza viruses.

CDC is working very closely with state and local officials in California, Texas, as well as with health officials in Mexico, Canada and the World Health Organization. On April 24th, CDC deployed 7 epidemiologists to San Diego County, California and Imperial County, California and 1 senior medical officer to Texas to provide guidance and technical support for the ongoing epidemiologic field investigations. CDC has also deployed to Mexico 1 medical officer and 1 senior expert who are part of a global team that is responding to the outbreak of respiratory illnesses in Mexico.

Reuters: April 25, 2009.  The World Health Organization warns that the outbreaks of swine flu in Mexico and the United States have the potential to cause a worldwide pandemic, but still,  it is too early to say whether this will be the case.  The statement was issued by WHO director general Margaret Chaun.  

Chan urged health authorities in all countries to be on high alert for unusual patterns of disease and any rise in severe flu or pneumonia cases. "This is clearly an animal strain of the H1N1 virus and it has pandemic potential because it is infecting people... However, we cannot say on the basis of currently available laboratory, epidemiological, and clinical evidence whether or not it will indeed cause a pandemic."

The World Health Organization Building from where the statement was released.

The Center for Disease and Control (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) is doing whatever possible to identify the ways the virus is being spread and prevent a major epidemic from occuring.

GlaxoSmithKline and Roche have contacted by the World Health Organization regarding their flu treatments amid an outbreak of swine flu that has killed at least 20 people in Mexico, according to The Associated Press. According to the AP, Roche says it has an emergency stockpile of Tamiflu on standby, and Glaxo, which makes Relenza, has been in touch with the WHO to identify what strain is involved.