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Too Late to Contain Flu: WHO

By Jess Kilby, Newser User

Posted Apr 28, 2009 4:44 AM CDT

(Newser) – Officials from the World Health Organization warn it’s too late to contain the swine flu and say governments should instead now focus on protecting their populations as best as possible, the BBC reports. The WHO bumped up its alert level from three to four—two levels shy of global pandemic—but officials stress that such a pandemic is “not inevitable.”

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South Korean quarantine officers walk past a signboard alerting passengers about possible infection of swine flu at Incheon International Airport west of Seoul, South Korea, today. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, Pool)

A woman walks past a screen broadcasting news about the swine flu in downtown Beijing, China, today. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

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What this can really be interpreted as is a significant step towards pandemic influenza. But also, it is a phase that says we are not there yet.
- WHO Assistant Director Gen. Keiji Fukuda

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