WHO raises alert after US death

The World Health Organisation on Wednesday increased its global alert level in response to the spread of swine flu after the US reported the first death from the disease outside Mexico.

Margaret Chan, the WHO director-general, said anti-flu measures must now be undertaken with increased urgency.

“All countries should immediately now activate their pandemic preparedness plans,” she told reporters in Geneva. “It really is all of humanity that is under threat in a pandemic.”

The alert is now at an phase five out of a possible six, meaning that a pandemic is imminent and the disease can be spread from human to human transmission in a sustainable manner. The move came after the US reported the first death from the disease outside Mexico.