UN swine flu alert remains at phase 4 amid rising infections

The deadly H1N1 influenza virus that’s fueling fears of a global pandemic is a hybrid of two common pig flu strains, scientists who have studied the disease told Tuesday. Earlier reports called it a combination of pig, human and avian influenza strains, Wired Science reports.

"The findings may resolve some uncertainty about the nature of the virus, but much is still unknown about its origins and effects."
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/04/swine...


De Verenigde Naties hebben dinsdag bekendgemaakt dat alarmfase 4 voor een pandemie van kracht blijft vanwege de uitbraak van varkensgriep.

UN SWINE FLU PANDEMIC ALERT REMAINS AT PHASE 4 AMID RISING INFECTIONS

The international influenza pandemic alert remains at phase four, on a six-level warning scale, the United Nations health agency said today, as the count of swine flu infections continues to rise.

The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that at present there are 79 cases – up from yesterday’s tally of 73 – worldwide of the strain of the new H1N1 influenza, otherwise known as swine flu because the strain is thought to have originated from pigs.

The virus has infected 40 people across the United States, 26 in Mexico and 6 in Canada, according to WHO, which also noted that there are verified reports of 2 cases in Spain, 2 in the United Kingdom and 3 in New Zealand.

“There have been seven deaths among this total number of cases, all of which are reported in Mexico,” WHO Assistant Director-General Keiji Fukuda told reporters in Geneva.

Mr. Fukuda pointed out that the number of swine flu infections WHO reports are only of laboratory confirmed cases specific to the virus and not the suspected numbers of H1N1 human contaminations presented in the media.

Although WHO has determined that the disease has spread to a number of different countries, it is only in Mexico that swine flu has reached sustained levels of person-to-person infections, which warrants a phase 4 alert.

Mr. Fukuda highlighted that the phase 4 alert recognises the increased risk of a pandemic, but does not mean the virus will necessarily spread to different countries and be transmitted to large numbers of people.

“It is too early to say that pandemic is inevitable but it is a possibility,” he said, adding that it is also too early to determine the origins of this new strain of the influenza virus.
He noted there is still no good explanation as to why cases of the infection in Mexico have appeared more severe than in other countries.

Although the evolution of the outbreak into a pandemic is not certain, Mr. Fukuda underscored the importance for countries to prepare themselves for the possibility of the global spread of the disease.

“We are beginning to focus on the anticipated needs of developing countries if the pandemic should develop,” he said. “We know from the analysis of past pandemics and we also know from many infectious diseases and health problems that the poor and the developing countries are the ones that really get hit the hardest.”

Developing countries also have the least resources to deal with a health emergency, warned Mr. Fukuda, while calling on the international community to help meet the demands a crisis may place on the poor.

WHO is working to facilitate the process needed to develop a vaccine effective against the swine flu virus, which the agency noted could take around 4 to 6 months. In addition, several more months would be needed to produce a suitably large amount of the vaccine.
(UN: April 28, 2009)

Vogelpest en Hongkong griep
Sinds begin 2004 zijn er meer dan 65 mensen overleden aan het vogelpestvirus. Varianten ervan zijn zeer gevaarlijk. Daarnaast kunnen er mensen aan zijn overleden zonder dat dit ooit is vastgesteld.

Een bestaand virus kan evolueren in een subtype. Dat laatste is gebeurd met het H2N2 virus dat uiteindelijk evolueerde in het subtype H3N2.

Hierdoor brak de Hongkong griep uit in 1968, die een wereldwijde pandemie veroorzaakte, waarbij volgens verschillende bronnen zeker 500.000 dodelijke slachtoffers vielen.