H1N1 General Information
Points for Community Partners from MCHD August 2009
Swine Influenza: General Information (CDC)
World Health Organization (WHO) Phase of Pandemic Alert
The World Health Organization increased the phase of pandemic alert from 5 to 6 on June 11, 2009
Phase 6 - The pandemic phase, is characterized by community level outbreaks in at least one other country in a different WHO region in addition to the criteria defined in Phase 5. Designation of this phase will indicate that a global pandemic is under way.
Phase 5 - is characterized by human-to-human spread of the virus into at least two countries in one WHO region. While most countries will not be affected at this stage, the declaration of Phase 5 is a strong signal that a pandemic is imminent and that the time to finalize the organization, communication, and implementation of the planned mitigation measures is short.
Source: http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/phase/en/index.html
