The World Health Organization has raised their swine flu alert to Level 5. The WHO’s formal definition of a Level 5 designation is sustained human-to-human transmission “in two countries in one WHO region” (there are six regions worldwide; the US is in the Americas region). So the “two countries” must be the United States and Mexico.
One can argue that the designation was fundamentally a wake-up call to governments to take this seriously, remembering the SARS and bird flu outbreaks earlier this decade. In particular, it’s a call to governments not to withhold information from the international health community, as happened earlier. The SARS angle may be particularly relevant for the WHO’s relatively new Director General, Margaret Chan, who is a representative of the Western Pacific region.
On the other hand: sustained human-to-human transmission sure sounds a lot more serious than what we’ve heard so far from the Obama Administration, doesn’t it? Are they hiding something? If so, we’re pretty fortunate to have the Joe Biden Truth Serum.
But one bit of good news on the WHO front: Taiwan will formally participate in the WHO’s Assembly in May as “Chinese Taipei” (just like in the Olympics). This takes a perennially nasty dispute off the table which became only more acute after the East Asian-focused SARS outbreak.
4 responses so far
1 A.B. // Apr 30, 2009 at 4:56 pm
“Are they hiding something?” Not yet, but I think they would do well to develop an “undisclosed location” for the VP and his family.
2 ottovbvs // May 1, 2009 at 6:24 am
This is a potential threat but well within the capability of our system to handle. The panic that has taken over seems very like the panic du jour that annually afflicts us. Remember the killer bees.
3 Bulldoglover100 // May 1, 2009 at 6:34 am
Oh Yes….and he’s a muslim and he was not born in the US and his father was water boarded..and on and on and on with the slime that makes us look like foolish children. Get real and stop this. Deal with the REAL issues.
4 barker13 // May 1, 2009 at 6:56 am
“If so, we’re pretty fortunate to have the Joe Biden Truth Serum.”
You know… (*SMILE*)… I agree.
Biden stumbled upon the truth! (*GRIN*)
I mean, personally I’m not going to follow his advice… I have no doubt that as a middle class American living in the affluent suburbs of New York City that if I come down with this new strain of flu I’ll not only live through it but fully recover just as I have in the past from stomach flu.
(*SHRUG*)
But that aside… I’m not gonna pile on Biden for giving “better safe than sorry” advice.
BILL
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