Predicting the path of a swine flu outbreak is next to impossible, public health officials say. But Dr
Expert on flu’s spread says new strain here to stay
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Officials Say Flu Cannot Be Contained As Global Cases Rise
The World Health Organization on Monday raised the pandemic swine flu alert level from phase 3 to 4, two levels below the declaration of a full pandemic. The elevated alert means there has been sustained human-to-human transmission of the new A/H1N1 swine flu virus, and that scientists now believe government efforts should focus on slowing the spread of the virus rather than containing it at its source. “We have taken a step in that direction, but a pandemic is not considered inevitable,” said Keiji Fukuda, the WHO’s interim director-general for health, safety and environment
Pandemic equals economic pain
While the swine flu raises public-health alarms globally, the prognosis for the world economy is not good if the outbreaks mutate into a pandemic. If there’s a pandemic on the level of the 1918 “Spanish” flu, a 2008 World Bank analysis says, it would cost the world economy $3.1 trillion and drop the world’s gross domestic product by 4.8 percent in the first year of infection. A pandemic like the less severe 1957 “Asian” flu would reduce global GDP by 2 percent, The World Bank concluded, while a pandemic like the most recent 1968 “Hong Kong” flu would cut world economic output by just under 1 percent
Deadliest pandemics of the 20th century
The World Health Organization has called the swine flu outbreak spreading around the world a "public health emergency of international concern." Health workers worldwide are racing to prevent what may potentially become a pandemic. An influenza pandemic occurs when a new virus appears against which the human population has no immunity, according to the WHO. Christine Layton, a public health expert who specializes in influenza at research institute RTI International, told CNN the swine flu has “pandemic potential.” “Unlike the avian flu that people were concerned about a few years ago, a lot more cases are occurring in a lot more different places,” she said
Travel shares down as markets react to swine flu
Trading in travel shares tumbled in markets around the world Monday, amid fears that the outbreak of swine flu in Mexico could turn into a global pandemic. But shares in pharmaceutical businesses and medical companies have shown strong play. At 1100 GMT the FTSE in London was down by 0.6 percent, with the CAC in Paris down by 1.3 percent and the Dax in Frankfurt lower by 1.3 percent.
Answers to swine flu questions
The World Health Organization has called it a "public health emergency of international concern." Seemingly out of nowhere, the swine flu virus has spread from person to person in Mexico and the United States, triggering global concerns as governments scramble to find ways to prevent further outbreak. Q. What is swine flu A
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The most recent reports Saturday afternoon were of two confirmed cases of the virus in Kansas — bringing the number of confirmed U.S. cases to 11.
More cases of swine flu reported; WHO warns of ‘health emergency’
A potentially deadly new strain of the swine flu virus cropped up in more places in the United States and Mexico on Saturday, in what the World Health Organization called "a public health emergency of international concern." The most recent reports Saturday afternoon were of two confirmed cases of the virus in Kansas — bringing the number of confirmed U.S. cases to 11. Those joined nine confirmed cases in Texas and California and an apparent outbreak at a private school in New York City, where officials say eight children likely have the virus.
Mexico City on alert over swine flu scare
Mexican officials closed all schools Friday in the capital city in an effort to combat the swine flu virus that has killed dozens in Mexico and infected eight people in the United States. Authorities also closed schools in Mexico in an effort to quell the virus, which has killed at least 68 people in the country, according to a statement from the U.S. Embassy in Mexico