WHO Chief Sees 'Pandemic Potential'

(NEWSER) - World Health Organization chief Margaret Chan told a summit in Mexico today that, though most cases of swine flu were not deadly, the virus cannot be stopped, the BBC reports. “With well over 100 countries reporting cases, once a fully fit pandemic virus emerges, its further international spread is unstoppable,” Chan said—adding that public perception is also tough to control. More»

(NEWSER) - The World Health Organization today instructed member nations to stop counting cases of the rapidly spreading swine flu pandemic and focus instead on the most serious, Reuters reports. “Trying to register and report every single case is a huge waste of resources,” a spokesman said. Authorities should continue to report clusters of infections, unusual cases, and “a more severe disease pattern.” More»

Theories implicate everyone from Smithfield Foods to al-Qaeda as responsible

(NEWSER) - Rumors about the origins of the swine flu outbreak are spreading faster than the virus itself, with theories ranging from a group of slaughtered pigs in China to an al-Qaeda conspiracy, Reuters reports. China’s government was actually prompted into making a formal statement by international media reports suggesting that dead pigs in one province spawned the virus. More»

(NEWSER) - The US is now confirming 40 cases of swine flu, while the death toll in Mexico is thought to have risen to 149, the Wall Street Journal reports. Of more than a thousand suspected cases in Mexico, only 26 have been confirmed, along with six in Canada and one in Spain, the WHO reports. The European Union's health commissioner warned today against traveling to North America "unless it is very urgent." The US' Centers for Disease Control, however, called that pronouncement unwarranted. More»

(NEWSER) - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has prepared a seed stock of vaccine for the swine flu that has killed dozens in Mexico and infected a handful of Americans, Time reports. The CDC has not begun mass production of the vaccine, opting instead to see if the outbreak reaches pandemic proportions. Still, “concern has grown” about the virus, an official said. More»