WHO Declares Swine Flu Pandemic

The World Health Organization told its member nations it was declaring a swine flu pandemic Thursday -- the first global flu pandemic in 41 years as infections climbed in the United States, Europe, Australia, South America and elsewhere.

In a statement sent to member countries, WHO said it decided to raise the pandemic warning level from phase 5 to 6 -- its highest alert level -- after holding an emergency meeting on swine flu with its experts.

"At this early stage, the pandemic can be characterized globally as being moderate in severity," WHO said in the statement, urging nations not to close borders or restrict travel and trade. "(We) remain in close dialogue with influenza vaccine manufacturers."

Health officials from Scotland, Indonesia and Thailand previously announced the agency would declare a swine flu pandemic -- a global epidemic -- on Thursday after a teleconference with leading flu experts. Officials at U.N. missions in Geneva also said they expected the imminent announcement of a pandemic.

"It is likely in light of sustained community transmission in countries outside of North America -- most notably in Australia -- that level 6 will be declared," Scotland's Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon told Scottish lawmakers, adding it would be Thursday.

Indonesian health minister Siti Fadilah Supari said she had been notified by WHO that "today will be declared to be phase 6."

The last pandemic -- the Hong Kong flu of 1968 -- killed about 1 million people. Ordinary flu kills about 250,000 to 500,000 people each year.

Since swine flu first emerged in Mexico and the United States in April, it has spread to 74 countries around the globe.

On Wednesday, WHO reported 27,737 cases including 141 deaths. Most cases are mild and require no treatment, but the fear is that a rash of new infections could overwhelm hospitals and health authorities -- especially in poorer countries.

The long-awaited pandemic announcement is scientific confirmation that a new flu virus has emerged and is quickly circling the globe. It will trigger drug makers to speed up production of a swine flu vaccine and prompt governments to devote more money to containing the virus.

In May, several countries urged WHO not to declare a pandemic, fearing it would spark mass panic.

Panic has already gripped Argentina, where so many people worried about swine flu flooded into hospitals this week that emergency health services have collapsed. Last month, a bus arriving in Argentina from Chile was stoned by people who thought a passenger on it had swine flu. Chile has the most swine flu cases in South America.

In Hong Kong, the government on Thursday ordered all kindergartens and primary schools closed for two weeks after a dozen students tested positive for swine flu.

In Australia, swine flu cases jumped to more than 1,000 on Monday and reached 1,260 by late Wednesday.

WHO says its pandemic announcement would not mean the situation was worsening, since no mutations have been detected in the virus to show it is getting more deadly.

In Edinburgh, Sturgeon told lawmakers that a WHO announcement means countries should immediately activate their pandemic plans.

"A move to level 6 is not a verdict on the severity of the virus," she said. "It simply means that the extent of global spread now fulfills the definition of a pandemic."

Healthy Forever & Ever

Swine Flu-Bound Mexicans Turn to Web

Thank You, Alexandra Olson

Churchgoers celebrate Mass via television. Congressional candidates campaign with real-time speeches on the Web. A magazine promises Internet tours through the real Mexico -- the one with open museums and pyramids. And rock bands plan online concerts.

Swine flu is creating a virtual Mexico.

With school canceled nationwide and many parents forbidding their kids to party, teenagers are logging a lot more time chatting on Facebook, Twittering and downloading music and movies from the Internet. So are many adults, especially after most business and government offices in Mexico City shut down Friday for five days.

Two rock bands are making a go at reaching shut-in fans, announcing a virtual concert for Tuesday. Los Estramboticos, a Mexico City group, and Pastilla, a Latino band from the United States, will perform in a studio and broadcast it online. At least they can get exposure while Mexico's ban on concerts lasts.

"Entrance is free and you can come without a surgical mask or fear of getting diseases," the bands proclaimed in a Web advertisement.

The problem is that even teenagers -- gasp! -- are starting to get bored of the virtual life

"I'm like, sick of it," said Bibiana Perez, 16, a Mexico City high schooler whose daily routine has consisted of morning Facebook chats with her friends, watching movies in the afternoon, and evening Facebook chats with her friends.

"I've started to cook and do things I don't I normally do," she said. "I've never made brownies, so I made brownies. I tried lasagna, but it didn't turn out so good."

Alex Pradillo, 17, has reached his limit, too. Rugby practices that normally take up two hours of his day have been suspended. He tried to invite a few friends over but their parents forbade them to go. So he finds himself spending six to eight hours a day downloading music from the Web or chatting with friends.

"It's definitely getting boring," he said. "It's tedious sitting around all day and the computer is starting to annoy me."

But boredom was still not enough to lure many Mexican City residents from their homes Sunday, 10 days into a flu outbreak that killed at least 22 people and sickened more than 560 in the country, most of them in the capital region.

Normally packed churches were all but empty. Priests in surgical masks offered Mass before a handful of faithful -- also wearing masks. Cardinal Norberto Rivera held a televised service from the Metropolitan Cathedral for those staying home.

Sunday also marked the official start of campaigning for the July 5 congressional elections -- but the government urged candidates not to hold rallies where the virus could spread. So candidates turned to the Internet to reach a population afraid join screaming crowds, shake hands or hold out babies for kisses.

Gabriela Cuevas Barron, a candidate for the conservative National Action Party, giddily claimed she was launching Mexico's first virtual campaign, promising in a Webcast to work for a cleaner and safer Mexico City -- for now, through Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

"Nothing is more important than health," the smiling candidate chirped on her Web site Sunday morning. "I can listen to you from here through this page."

Her opponents beat her to the punch. Political activist Oscar Romero, 34, launched a Facebook and Twitter page at the stroke of midnight Sunday for candidates of his leftist Democratic Revolution Party.

But Romero worries that voter turnout could be swine flu's next victim if the disruption to everyday life drags on much longer. The Web is no substitute for old-fashioned rallies and canvassing in a country full of sprawling shantytowns and remote villages.

Party members "are pretty worried, I have to tell you. Because, effectively, they really can't campaign right now," he said.

Mexico has shut all its museums, archaeological ruins and theaters, and even nightclubs and bars in the Pacific resort of Acapulco are closed. Mexico City residents are discouraged from leaving the city.

The local magazine Inside Mexico jumped at the chance to promise an alternative: virtual strolls through "cobblestone medieval-tinged streets," biking and hiking in spa towns and even jungle treks.

"Are you suffering from flu-overload and hankering for a break (even if it's a virtual escape) from it all?" a Web blurb from the magazine asks. "We thought you might like to pause and remember some of Mexico's beauty."

Still, the magazine catered to the swine flu obsession. One of its most popular online articles?

"How to make your own anti-flu protective mask: Part II."

Healthy Forever & Ever