Reports of Swine Flu's Europe Demise Exaggerated
New H1N1 Cases on Continent Take a Surprising Jump
Jun 5, 2009
Yesterday in this space it was reported that the virus appeared to be slowing in its spread across the continent, but 200 new cases of H1N1 infection have been confirmed in Europe in the past 48-hour reporting period. That represents a 30 percent increase from the previous number of swine flu cases in Europe. There are now 876 confirmed cases on the continent, according to the World Health Organization.
UK Still Has Most Cases of Swine Flu
The WHO figures show the largest number (89) of new cases came from the United Kingdom, which has nearly half (428) of all cases in Europe. However, France, Spain, and Germany also saw significant increases in cases.
Spain reported 38 new cases, bringing its total to 218, the second most in Europe. France had 21 new cases, increasing its total to 47. There were 15 new cases reported in Germany, bringing its total to 42.
Virus Spreads in Scandinavia
Outside of those nations, some of Europe’s most populous, many of the new cases were reported in the continent’s northernmost nations, where summer has yet to take hold. Sweden reported six new cases, pushing its total into double digits (13). Norway had five new cases, raising its total to nine. Of the four cases reported in Denmark, three were confirmed in the past 48 hours. Ireland saw its cases double, from four to eight.
Tiny Luxembourg became the latest nation to join the European swine flu club. It reported its first H1N1 infection during the just concluded 48-hour reporting period.
Pandemic Declaration Imminent?
The WHO continued to send conflicting signals related to the swine flu outbreak in Europe and around the world. According to a Bloomberg news report, WHO Director-General Margaret Chan is urging the world’s governments not to overreact to the virus. At the same time, she said the organization is getting closer to declaring a full pandemic for the first time in 40 years.
“We are closer to Phase 6 than we were one week ago, but I don’t want to come out and make an announcement of Phase 6 and cause debate,” she said.
The WHO’s pandemic alert level is currently at Phase 5, which the organization says “is characterized by human-to-human spread of the virus into at least two countries in one WHO region.” For a Phase 6 level to be declared, the WHO must see evidence of “community level outbreaks in at least one other country in a different WHO region.”
There have been reports for weeks of apparent human-to-human transmission in Europe and the recent rapid spread of the virus in Australia also would appear to meet this criteria.
