From the Department of ‘Holy Shit!’

The world Health Organization has raised the pandemic threat level to 5 on a scale of 1-6. I don’t know the exact break-down of each level but rest assured, 5 isn’t good and 6 likely means we’re fucked.

But seriously, from CNN:

The World Health Organization raised its pandemic alert to 5, its second-highest level Wednesday, indicating the outbreak of swine flu that originated in Mexico is nearing widespread human infection.

Dr. Margaret Chan, the U.N. agency’s director-general, said the decision means that all countries should “immediately” activate pandemic preparedness plans.

“This change to a higher phase of alert is a signal to governments, to ministries of health and other ministries, to the pharm industry and the business community that certain actions now should be taken with increased urgency and at an accelerated pace,” Chan said.

The annoucement came as the number of people infected with swine flu increased rapidly across the world, and health officials scrambled to get more information about the virus — which has no vaccine.

“It’s a virus that we’ve never seen before,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

“There’s no background immunity in the population, and it is spreading from human to human, all of which has the potential for a pandemic.”

More information can be found on the CDC’s swine flu web page, here.

Just an FYI- you know those masks you see everyone wearing? Most of them are thin paper masks which are generally only effective for a short period of time. For real protection against airborne particles and droplets you need a mask with a HEPA filter, which is significantly more expensive, needs to be fitted properly in order to assure adequate protection and is not available on a large scale in most countries. Sorry.