(1888PressRelease)
May 08, 2009 - Nowadays, there are so many new diseases which we have to beware of. The more we understand about it, the better we can stay away from it and live safely.
We have SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) in 2003. SARS was first reported in Asia, within a short period of time, the illness spread to more than 20 countries in the world. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a total of 8,098 people worldwide became sick and 774 people died with SARS outbreak in 2003. Fortunately, there were only 8 people had laboratory evidence of SARS-CoV infection in the United States and SARS did not widely spread in the United States.
Now, we have Swine Flu (H1N1). Swine flu is a respiratory disease which infects pigs and it is caused by influenza type A virus, there are regular outbreaks among herds of pigs, where the disease causes high levels of illness but is rarely fatal. According to the CDC, humans are not usually affected, although such infections can happen. Swine flu viruses have now been reported to spread from human to human; however, “human to human” transmission was limited and not sustained beyond three people in the past.
Since the Swine Flu breakout reported in April 2009, the World Health Organization had raised the Influenza Pandemic Alert twice. On April 27, 2009, the World Health Organization announced that the Influenza Pandemic Alert was raised from Phase 3 to Phase 4. According to “WHO phase of pandemic alert”, Phase 4 is characterized by verified human-to-human transmission of an animal or human-animal influenza reassortant virus able to cause “community-level outbreaks.” The ability to cause sustained disease outbreaks in a community marks a significant upwards shift in the risk for a pandemic. Any country that suspects or has verified such an event should urgently consult with WHO so that the situation can be jointly assessed and a decision made by the affected country if implementation of a rapid pandemic containment operation is warranted. Phase 4 indicates a significant increase in risk of a pandemic but does not necessarily mean that a pandemic is a forgone conclusion.
Unfortunately, on April 29, 2009, the World Health Organization had to raise the Influenza Pandemic Alert again from Phase 4 to Phase 5. According to “WHO phase of pandemic alert”, Phase 5 is characterized by “human-to-human” spread of the virus into at least two countries in one WHO region. While most countries will not be affected at this stage, the declaration of Phase 5 is a strong signal that a pandemic is imminent and that the time to finalize the organization, communication, and implementation of the planned mitigation measures is short.
The newly launched http://www.SwineFluFAQ.rdlhk.com provides the latest news about Swine Flu and we will keep everyone update about this new disease and provide all kind of methods to prevent infected by this disease.
We wish everyone healthy and please wear a mask if Swine Flu is spreading in your community.
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