Saturday, May 02, 2009

WHO warns Southern Hemisphere countries: H1N1 is coming your way

SHOOT: Will we be able to take the hit?
clipped from www.abc.net.au
Thermal scanners employed in swine flu fight

The World Health Organisation (WHO) is warning of an increased threat of swine flu in the southern hemisphere as winter approaches, but authorities are moving to quell fears of a global pandemic.

But acting assistant director general Keiji Fukuda said the virus had been behaving like a typical influenza virus and as such it could have a bigger impact on countries that are currently heading into winter.

"It's possible we will see outbreaks of the H1N1 virus occurring more recently in the southern hemisphere than in the northern hemisphere," Dr Fukuda said in a global telephone news conference.

"This is something we have to be on the watch out very carefully for."

"We have also seen in other countries cases holding steady, for example the United States. There is nothing which suggests epidemiologically today that we should be moving towards phase six."

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