WHO: Swine flu pandemic first in 41 years

The World Health Organization (WHO) told its member nations it was declaring a swine flu pandemic Thursday, according to Maria Cheng and Frank Jordnas of the Associated Press. This is the first global flu epidemic in 41 years, as infections climbed in the United States, Europe, Australia, South America and elsewhere.



In a statement sent to health officials, WHO said it decided to raise the pandemic warning level from phase 5 to 6. The decision has been made to issue the highest alert after holding an emergency meeting with its flu experts.



The long-awaited pandemic decision is scientific confirmation that a new flu virus has emerged and is quickly circling the globe. It will trigger drug makers to speed up production of a swine flu vaccine and prompt governments to devote more money toward efforts to contain the virus.



On Wednesday, WHO said 74 countries had reported nearly 27,737 cases of swine flu, including 141 deaths. The agency has stressed that most cases have been mild and required no treatment, but the fear is that a rash of new infections could overwhelm hospitals and health authorities, especially in poor countries.



Still, about half of the people, who have died from swine flu, also know by its scientific name H1N1, were previously young and healthy people who are not usually susceptible to flu.



Swine flu is also continuing to spread during the start of summer in the northern hemisphere. Normally, flu viruses disappear with warm weather but swine flu is proving to be resilient.



The last pandemic was the Hong Kong flu of 1968, which killed about a million people. Ordinary flu kills about 250,000 to 500,000 people each year.