UN: No need to panic over flu outbreak

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Source: CCTV.com | 05-05-2009 15:11

With the number of confirmed cases of A/H1-N1 flu topping one thousand, there is growing concern over when the World Health Organization will move its alert to the highest level -- meaning there is a global outbreak.

World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan is seen during a video conference on influenza A (H1N1), formerly referred to as swine flu, at the United Nations headquarters in New York May 4, 2009. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

A comforting message from an emergency UN meeting on the global spread of the A/H1N1 virus:

"WHO has no plan to raise the alert level to 6 at this moment."

"Phase 6 indicates that we are in a pandemic. We are not there yet."

The World Health Organization is reassuring the world this is not a repeat of the 1918 flu pandemic, which claimed anywhere from 40 to 100 million lives.

Dr. Margaret Chan, Dorector-General, WHO, said, "At this point, we have no indication that we are facing a situation similar to that seen in 1918."

But the direction this virus will take is still unpredictable.