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(CIDRAP News) On the heels of yesterday's pandemic declaration by the World Health Organization (WHO), the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today urged businesses to review their pandemic plans to make sure they're flexible enough to respond to a moderate or severe pandemic.
(CIDRAP News) At almost the same moment today that the World Health Organization announced recognition of an influenza pandemic, researchers from Hong Kong, the United Kingdom and the United States declared that the novel H1N1 virus responsible has been circulating undetected in humans for monthsand that its components have been present in pigs for at least a decade.
(CIDRAP News) The World Health Organization's (WHO's) pandemic declaration today isn't a surprise and won't affect the United States' response to the spread of the novel flu virus, which is already aggressive, officials from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today.
By raising its pandemic alert level to phase 6 today, The World Health Organization (WHO) has put every continent, country, organization, and individual on official notice. The critical wake-up call has sounded; no more pressing the pause button.
(CIDRAP News) After delaying action for weeks as the novel H1N1 influenza virus took hold in far-flung parts of the globe, the World Health Organization (WHO) today declared a full-fledged pandemic, formally recognizing that the virus is becoming a global contagion.
Jun 11, 2009
Jun 10, 2009
The World Health Organization's (WHO's) count of novel H1N1 influenza cases reached 26,563 today, an increase of 1,275 since yesterday, Dr. Keiji Fukuda reported at a news briefing from Geneva. The death toll increased by 1, to 140, while the number of affected countries stayed the same at 73. Fukuda is the WHO's assistant director-general for health security and the environment.[Canwest News Service story]
An official from the World Health Organization (WHO) said today that health experts are closely monitoring novel H1N1 influenza infections in Canada's Inuit populations, following reports that the communities are seeing more than their share of severe cases.
(CIDRAP News) The World Health Organization (WHO) is getting "very close" to declaring that a novel H1N1 influenza pandemic has arrived, but the agency wants to spend more time preparing the world for that step so it won't cause panic, a WHO official said today.
(CIDRAP News) Government officials and researchers may have underestimated the potential role of pigs as "mixing vessels" for influenza viruses and the importance of swine surveillance for identifying new pandemic threats, veterinary experts from Mexico asserted recently.
Jun 8, 2009
Jun 5, 2009
(CIDRAP News) President Barack Obama this week asked Congress for another $2 billion in supplemental funds to fight the novel H1N1 influenza epidemic, on top of $2 billion requested a month ago, and also proposed to tap federal economic stimulus funds for up to another $3.1 billion for the same purpose.
Meanwhile, public health advocates said even more may be needed if a nationwide H1N1 vaccination campaign is launched in the fall.
Jun 4, 2009
(CIDRAP News) A coalition of health policy groups today offered a "good news, bad news" evaluation of the US response to the novel H1N1 influenza epidemic so far.
The good news: The experience has shown that years of pandemic preparation have paid dividends, particularly with regard to coordination, communication, antiviral drugs, and vaccine development.
The irony is hard to miss. Much is being discussed and published about the "lessons learned" from the 2009 pandemic of the novel H1N1 influenza. And I expect the World Health Organization (WHO) will (as I did in my last column) finally call it a pandemic any moment now, based on extensive and growing transmission of the novel influenza virus in Australia and Europe.
(CIDRAP News) In an update on novel influenza developments in Mexico, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported today that patterns look like those in the United States and other nations, with cases leveling off nationwide and areas of localized transmission.
Jun 3, 2009
