Swine flu: second wave could strike with a vengeance, says WHO
Swine flu could strike with a "vengeance" in the coming months, the director of the World Health Organisation said as the number of cases across the world passed 1,000.
By Nick Allen
Published: 7:00AM BST 05 May 2009
Across the world there have now been 1,085 confirmed cases of Swine flu Photo: EPA
The WHO is considering raising its flu alert level to the top of its six-point scale, meaning that the virus has spread between different regions and a pandemic is under way.
Dr Margaret Chan, the organisation's director general, warned that a second wave of the virus is likely to be the "biggest of all outbreaks the world has faced in the 21st century", puncturing optimism that the spread may have been contained.
Last week the agency raised its alert level to five, which indicated that a pandemic was "imminent".
Dr Chan said: "Level six does not mean in any way that we are facing the end of the world. It is important to make this clear because when we announce level six it will cause an unnecessary panic."
But she added: "Flu viruses are very unpredictable, very deceptive. We should not be overconfident. The situation is evolving and the virus is changing".
She said the end of the flu season in the northern hemisphere meant that, while any initial outbreak could be mild, a second wave may be more lethal.
That would reflect a pattern seen with the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic that killed up to 50 million people.
Across the world there have now been 1,085 confirmed cases reported in 21 countries, with Portugal announcing its first yesterday. France and Italy both announced two new cases. Spain has now confirmed 54 cases, making it the worst hit country in Europe.
The number of confirmed cases in the United States continued to rise with health authorities saying 286 people in 36 states are now infected.
Up to 20 countries have banned imports of pork and other meat even though the H1N1 strain is not food-borne. The global trade in pork meat is worth about £17 billion a year.
Mexico, the epicentre of the outbreak, raised its confirmed swine flu toll to 26 deaths but said the epidemic appeared to be slowing.
President Felipe Calderon said the epidemic, which has left the tourism industry on its knees, had been contained and officials pledged to re-open businesses this week
A diplomatic row developed as Mexico accused China of discriminating against its citizens, dozens of whom were placed under quarantine over the weekend despite showing no signs of having swine flu.
Some 250 recruits and personnel at an army camp in the western Swiss canton of Fribourg were placed under quarantine after two recruits were suspected of contracting the virus.
Egypt pushed ahead with a mass slaughter of the country's quarter of a million pigs, a day after clashes erupted with protesting pig farmers.
In Hong Kong a British couple who are among 350 guests quarantined the Metropark Hotel Wanchai joked that it could be "a test" of their marriage.
Eddie and Terry Sweeney had planned to stay in Hong Kong for two nights on the return journey from a visit to their daughter in New Zealand but are now confined to their room for most of the day after another guest was diagnosed with swine flu.
Swine flu could strike with a "vengeance" in the coming months, the director of the World Health Organisation said as the number of cases across the world passed 1,000.
By Nick Allen
Published: 7:00AM BST 05 May 2009
Across the world there have now been 1,085 confirmed cases of Swine flu Photo: EPA
The WHO is considering raising its flu alert level to the top of its six-point scale, meaning that the virus has spread between different regions and a pandemic is under way.
Dr Margaret Chan, the organisation's director general, warned that a second wave of the virus is likely to be the "biggest of all outbreaks the world has faced in the 21st century", puncturing optimism that the spread may have been contained.
Last week the agency raised its alert level to five, which indicated that a pandemic was "imminent".
Dr Chan said: "Level six does not mean in any way that we are facing the end of the world. It is important to make this clear because when we announce level six it will cause an unnecessary panic."
But she added: "Flu viruses are very unpredictable, very deceptive. We should not be overconfident. The situation is evolving and the virus is changing".
She said the end of the flu season in the northern hemisphere meant that, while any initial outbreak could be mild, a second wave may be more lethal.
That would reflect a pattern seen with the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic that killed up to 50 million people.
Across the world there have now been 1,085 confirmed cases reported in 21 countries, with Portugal announcing its first yesterday. France and Italy both announced two new cases. Spain has now confirmed 54 cases, making it the worst hit country in Europe.
The number of confirmed cases in the United States continued to rise with health authorities saying 286 people in 36 states are now infected.
Up to 20 countries have banned imports of pork and other meat even though the H1N1 strain is not food-borne. The global trade in pork meat is worth about £17 billion a year.
Mexico, the epicentre of the outbreak, raised its confirmed swine flu toll to 26 deaths but said the epidemic appeared to be slowing.
President Felipe Calderon said the epidemic, which has left the tourism industry on its knees, had been contained and officials pledged to re-open businesses this week
A diplomatic row developed as Mexico accused China of discriminating against its citizens, dozens of whom were placed under quarantine over the weekend despite showing no signs of having swine flu.
Some 250 recruits and personnel at an army camp in the western Swiss canton of Fribourg were placed under quarantine after two recruits were suspected of contracting the virus.
Egypt pushed ahead with a mass slaughter of the country's quarter of a million pigs, a day after clashes erupted with protesting pig farmers.
In Hong Kong a British couple who are among 350 guests quarantined the Metropark Hotel Wanchai joked that it could be "a test" of their marriage.
Eddie and Terry Sweeney had planned to stay in Hong Kong for two nights on the return journey from a visit to their daughter in New Zealand but are now confined to their room for most of the day after another guest was diagnosed with swine flu.
