世界卫生组织将猪流感警报升至第五级
BBC News with John Jason.
Less than a week after the World Health Organization first warned of an outbreak of swine flu in Mexico, the agency has raised the international level of alert, indicating that a pandemic is imminent. After an emergency meeting in Geneva, the head of the WHO, Margaret Chan announced that the outbreak has reached Level 5. The virus is believed to have killed 159 people in Mexico. The United States has recorded its first fatality from the virus, which has spread to Europe, the Middle East and New Zealand. Imogen Foulkes reports from Geneva.
To declare phase 5, the World Health Organization had to make sure that there is sustained human to human transmission of the swine flu virus in at least two countries in the one region of the world. That stage has clearly been reached in Mexico and the United States. The WHO's advice to all countries now is to prepare. Stockpiling drugs, preparing hospitals and continuing to stay on high alert for any sign of swine flu. Such measures, the WHO says, may at least ensure that the coming pandemic is mild rather than severe.
埃及下令杀猪防猪流感。专家称此举没有任何科学依据。
The Egyptian authorities have ordered a kill of all pigs in their country as a precaution against swine flu. No cases have been reported in Egypt, but there have been several in neighboring Israel. A number of countries have banned imports of pork from the United States, but experts say although the virus may have evolved within pigs, it has not been found in them, and slaughtering pigs or banning pork has no scientific bases.
