World Health Organization declares swine flu pandemic

UN body's chief Margaret Chan announced that the WHO decided to raise the pandemic alert level to the maximum of 6. "The world is moving into the early days of its first influenza pandemic in the 21st century," Chan told reporters. "The virus is now unstoppable," she said. Under WHO guidelines, a key criteria for declaring a pandemic is a confirmed community spread in a country outside the first region the disease was reported. Chan said the pandemic, which originated in Mexico and now had swept through the United States, Europe, Australia, and South America, was moderate in nature, but could last for a long time; Kazinform cites RIA Novosti. See www.en.rian.ru for full version