WHO Raises Flu Alert Level to 5; Pandemic Looms

Level 5 means the WHO has confirmed sustained human-to-human transmission of the disease in at least two countries.

There have been confirmed cases of swine flu in Mexico, the United States, Canada, Britain, Israel, New Zealand and Spain, with Mexico and the U.S. reporting deaths, all but one of were in Mexico to this point.

Swine flu is suspected of in the deaths of more than 150 people in Mexico and sickening over 2,400 there.

Nearly 100 cases have now been confirmed in the U.S. across 11 states, and health officials reported Wednesday that a 23-month-old Mexican boy had died in Texas.

A phase 6 alert by the WHO would mean the following:

Phase 6: In addition to the countries affected in Phase 5, there are community-level outbreaks in at least one other country in a different WHO region. A global pandemic is occurring.