H1N1 Pandemic - It's Official

Pandemic Preparedness Kit

The World Health Organization, or WHO, has just declared an H1N1 pandemic as of today (Thursday, June 11, 2009). This marks the first worldwide pandemic in 41 years.

H1N1 infections in the U.S., Europe, Australia, South America and in other countries has risen to about 30,000 cases.

The H1N1 pandemic announcement is scientific confirmation that a new flu strain (H1N1, formerly known as Swine Flu) has emerged and is circling the globe at an alarming rate. The WHO will now petition drug-makers to quicken their production of the H1N1 vaccine. The declaration will also prompt governments to devote more money toward efforts to contain the virus.

Reports are coming in that Pandemic Preparedness Kits are literally flying off the shelves and many retailers are sold out already. You can obtain one here, for as long as supplies last.

Dr. Margaret Chan of the WHO made the announcement on Thursday after an urgent meeting with flu experts. Chan then declared that she was stepping up to Phase 6 — the WHO’s highest alert level — which indicates a global pandemic, or epidemic, is under way.

“The world is moving into the early days of its first influenza pandemic in the 21st century,” Chan said to reporters. “The (H1N1 flu) virus is now unstoppable.”

The WHO went on to state that, so far, 74 countries had reported 28,774 cases of H1N1 flu, including 144 deaths. Chan said that the virus is “moderate.”

About 50 percent of the people who have died from H1N1 flu were young and healthy, the type of people who are not usually susceptible to these types of flu. Experts say this is why Pandemic Preparedness Kits are currently in such high demand.

The last global pandemic was the Hong Kong flu of 1968 which killed around 1,000,000 people.

You can follow all of our previous coverage of the H1N1 virus here.