Swine flu: PANDEMIC

Swine Flu was just declared by the World health Organization on thursday that it is an official Pandemic. The First time in 41 years that the Who, not the band,as infections in the United States, Europe, Australia, South America and elsewhere climbed to nearly 30,000 cases. It has been long awaited by the scientific community that the label be put to the Swine Flu as a Pandemic. Literally opening the floodgates for more and more government funding to go into finding the vaccine for the virus. The Who ordered the Flu to be put on Phase 6, which is the highest level of a disease or outbreak that will lead to a global pandemic and epidemic. The WHO chief doctor Margaret ChanMargaret Chan stated, "The world is moving into the early days of its first influenza pandemic in the 21st century," Chan told reporters. "The (swine flu) virus is now unstoppable." On Thursday, WHO said 74 countries had reported 28,774 cases of swine flu, including 144 deaths. Chan described the virus as "moderate." According to WHO's pandemic criteria, a global outbreak has begun when a new flu virus begins spreading in two world regions. Though the flu is relitively mild the Who fear for the poor countires that a rise in cases could overwhelm their ability to treat the sick, leading to their eventual deaths. Which we have seen in Mexico. Still, about half of the people who have died from swine flu were previously young and healthy — people who are not usually susceptible to flu. Swine flu is also crowding out regular flu viruses. Both features are typical of pandemic flu viruses. WHO said it was now recommending that flu vaccine makers start making swine flu vaccine. Drug giant GlaxoSmithKline PLC said they could start large-scale production of pandemic vaccine in July but that it would take several months before large quantities would be available. The U.S. government has already taken steps like increasing availability of flu-fighting medicines and authorizing $1 billion for the development of a new vaccine against the novel virus. In addition, new cases seem to be declining in many parts of the country, U.S. health officials say, as North America moves out of its traditional winter flu season. Fear has already gripped Argentina, where thousands of people worried about swine flu flooded into hospitals this week, bringing emergency health services in the capital of Buenos Aires to the brink of collapse. Last month, a bus arriving in Argentina from Chile was stoned by people who thought a passenger on it had swine flu.