Swine flu unstoppable, WHO warns

World Health Organisation says crisis is at ‘turning period’ and urges governments to plan for mass outbreaks

The World Health Organisation warned today that swine flu can no longer be contained, as the virus spread to Asia and the Middle East, with the first cases confirmed in New Zealand and Israel.

The virus, an apparently new strain of the H1N1 flu, has now been confirmed in seven countries, and suspected outbreaks are being investigated in other places including Ireland, Germany, Italy, Sweden and Denmark.

The world was now at a “turning period”, said Gregory Hartl, a WHO spokesman, where it would soon become clear whether the virus was capable of the kind of sustained, large-scale movement between humans that would bring a full pandemic a step closer. So far transmission within communities had been seen only in Mexico and the US, he said.

The WHO’s deputy head, Keiji Fukuda, warned countries to consider urgently how best to deal with a possible mass outbreak, given that closing international borders would have little impact now. “At this time containment is not a feasible option,” he said.

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