B.V.I. Tuesday, April 28 – Government is paying close attention to a decision by the Director General of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Dr. Margaret Chan to raise the level of the global influenza pandemic alert from Phase 3 to Phase 4.

The Director General said the change to a higher phase of pandemic alert indicates that the likelihood of a pandemic has increased, but not that a pandemic is inevitable.

“As further information becomes available, WHO may decide to either revert to Phase 3 or raise the level of alert to another phase,” the WHO official noted in an official communiqué, which has been circulated to health authorities around the world, including Government’s Ministry of Health and Social Development and the Department of Disaster Management.

The WHO Director General said the decision to increase the alert level was primarily based on epidemiological data, which demonstrate human-to-human transmission and the ability of the virus to cause community-level outbreaks.

Given the widespread presence of the virus, the Director-General considered that containment of the outbreak is not feasible, and has suggested that the current focus should be on mitigation measures.

Officials from the Ministry of Health and Social Development and the Department of Disaster Management participating in a tele-conference today, which was organised by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the WHO. Participants included the Ministers of Health from a number of countries including Mexico, the United States of America, and Canada among and several other Latin America and Caribbean countries.

By early today the swine flu outbreak in Mexico was suspected in 152 deaths and more than 1,600 illnesses. So far, at least 90 cases have been confirmed worldwide, including 50 in the United States; six in Canada; three in New Zealand; two each in Spain and the United Kingdom; and one in Israel. However no deaths as a result of swine flu were reported in any of those countries.