What Does Phase Five Pandemic Mean?
Wednesday, April 29th, 2009 by:The World Health Organization (WHO) recently raised the Swine flu pandemic threat from phase 4 to phase 5 (on a scale of 1-6). This is the first time in history a phase 5 level has been given.
With the WHO Director General Dr. General Margaret Chan making statements like: “The whole of humanity is under threat in a pandemic.” And Spain confirming the first case of swine flu in a person who had not recently traveled to Mexico, it’s hard not to get a little concerned.
Upon writing this 10 countries have confirmed Swine Flu outbreaks: Mexico, US, Canada, Germany, Austria, Spain, UK, Israel, New Zealand and Peru.
So what exactly is a phase five pandemic?
Phases 1-3: Predominantly animal infections: few human infections
Phase 4: Sustained human to human transmission
Phases 5-6/Pandemic: Widespread human infection
The current Phase 5 designation is characterized by human-to-human spread of the virus into at least two countries in one WHO region. 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.
WHO official Keiji Fukuda said countries other than Mexico need to consider social distancing measures such as closing schools and delaying public meetings. Since then, 74 schools in the US have closed. What are your thoughts on the situation?