The World Health Organization is on the brink of declaring the swine flu a global pandemic.
The A(H1N1) strain of the flu virus has spread across 64 countries. There are hundreds of cases confirmed in some countries out of North America which includes Australia, Chile, Japan, Spain, and Britain.
A growing concern is the high potential of occurrence in the Southern Hemisphere of the globe where winter is just setting in. There was also a case of an H1N1 strain which was non-responsive to the Tamiflu drug.
According to a medical expert who heads the investigation of WHO, the organization is looking for evidence in two of widespread transmission of the swine flu that is not just contracted from travelers, immediate contacts, or in schools. If they will have this kind of evidence, WHO will be forced to declare the alert to Level 6, the highest level.
The World Health Organization is also debating the new assessment guidelines for the declaration of the ultimate pandemic alert level. They are arguing that they might add a clarification that the virus of the flu is not very lethal. There have only been 117 recorded deaths because of the recently discovered flu strain.