WHO chief raises flu pandemic alert level

The World Health Organisation yesterday raised the global flu alert level to 5, the second highest phase that indicates "a pandemic is imminent".

"I have decided to raise the level of influenza pandemic alert from phase 4 to phase 5," WHO director-general Margaret Chan told a news briefing about the swine flu outbreak that has killed as many as 159 people in Mexico and spread to the US, Canada, Europe, Israel and New Zealand.

According to the WHO's pandemic flu response guidelines, a Phase 5 alert is called when there is sustained human-to-human spread of the virus in at least two countries in one 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 finalise the organisation, communication and implementation of the planned mitigation measures is short," the document reads.

A Mexican toddler in Texas has died of the new swine flu virus, the first confirmed death outside Mexico and about 30 US Marines in southern California on the biggest military base in the US have been quarantined after one of them was confirmed to have contracted the swine flu virus, the Marine Corps said.

Nearly a week after the threat first emerged in Mexico, Spain reported the first case in Europe of swine flu in a person who had not been to Mexico, underscoring the threat of person-to-person transmission.

"It is clear that the virus is spreading and we don't see evidence of it slowing down at this point," Keiji Fukuda, WHO acting assistant director-general, told a news briefing.

With Germany and Austria reporting cases, bringing the number of affected countries to 9, Dr Fukuda said the WHO was moving closer to raising its pandemic alert to phase five, the second highest level possible.

US officials said that a 22-month-old boy had died in Texas - the first confirmed US swine flu death - but they added that he was on a family visit from Mexico, where up to 159 flu fatalities have been recorded.

President Barack Obama, who on Tuesday asked for $1.5 billion in emergency funding to fight the disease, said the death showed it was time to take "utmost precautions" against the virus.