H1N1 Now a Pandemic

Today the World Health Organization declared that H1N1 an official pandemic. H1N1 spreads easily between people and there have now been close to 30,000 cases in 74 countries, with 141 deaths related to the influenza strain.

Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization states "No previous pandemic has been detected so early or watched so closely, in real-time, right at the very beginning. The world can now reap the benefits of investments, over the last five years, in pandemic preparedness."

Leona Aglukkaq, Health Minister (Canada), responded to the WHO's upgraded rating of H1N1 reassuring Canadians "Today's WHO declaration is primarily a technical decision that is based on how the virus has spread, and does not reflect how severe it is."

Most cases of H1N1 are very mild however we should never let our guard down. Traditional pandemic planning has been for the avian influenza and then SARS struck suddenly in 2003 with a very serious illness, now it is H1N1 originating in swine. H1N1 has demonstrated how small of a world we live in. From a relatively small outbreak in Mexico the disease has now spread around the world in a matter of a few short months.

The key lesson is that all organizations need to continue to prepare their pandemic and business continuity planning, as the next outbreak could originate anywhere, any time, and have more significant health consequences.

Lets also be reminded that the annual flu outbreak has significant consequences. In Canada more than 20,000 people are sent to the hospital with influenza, with 4,000 to 8,000 deaths each year being attributed to the flu.

WHO website: http://www.who.int/en/
Fight Flu: http://www.fightflu.ca/index-eng.html
US Center for Disease Control: http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/qa.htm