WHO may redefine pandemic alert phases

(CIDRAP)

In response to concerns from various governments about the possible effects of declaring a full-scale influenza pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) will call on outside experts to consider whether to revise the agency's definitions of pandemic alert phases, a WHO official announced today.
The spread of the novel H1N1 flu virus in Mexico, the United States, and Canada prompted the WHO to raise its pandemic alert from phase 4 to phase 5 on Apr 29. Despite signs of possible community-level transmission in other parts of the world, such as Japan and Spain, the WHO has not raised the alert to phase 6, defined as sustained community transmission in more than one global region.