WHO Raises Swine Flu Threat Level

Solarch writes "Late in the afternoon on Wednesday, the WHO raised the pandemic threat level for H1N1 "swine flu" to 5. Global media outlets(such as CNN, Fox News, and the BBC) preempted normal broadcast coverage and immediately published stories on their websites. To clarify, the WHO's elevation is mainly a sign to governments that the virus is spreading quickly and that steps should be taken on a governmental level to stage supplies and medicines to combat a possible pandemic. Unfortunately, broadcast coverage focused on phrases like 'pandemic imminent' (CNN marquee). In other news, patient zero, the medical term for the initial human vector of a disease, has been tentatively identified in Mexico."

Comments

Re:not easy to know how to respond

[maxume]

For organizations like the CDC and WHO, having well thought out, staged plans makes quite a bit of sense (and simplifies communication).

If they have those stages, they are going to leak to the media and be reported, so they might as well just announce them and try to put out some information about what they mean.

Re:I dunno?

[Device666]

The swedish chiefs did raise it, bork bork bork.

Kind of reminds me...

[Hojima]

I was in class drinking a Pepsi. The teacher said if I bring it to class I better be prepared to share it, and I said, "I CAN'T, THERE'S SWINE FLUE GOING AROUND!1|1!"

Re:Doesn't scare me at all

[Meski]

The media can do what they will with this non-story.

I'm safe - I don't believe in that e-vo-lution crap, so this new disease could not have evolved from swine! It's all just pig nonsense.

I'm going back to prepare a round of raw bacon sushi!

But does evolution believe in you?