'If countries had not been thinking about what to do in this kind of situation, the fact is we would have had much more confusion,' Mr Fukuda said. -- PHOTO: AFP
GENEVA - THE World Health Organisation has defended its decision to raise the global pandemic alarm for swine flu as Cuba, Thailand and Finland confirmed their first cases of the virus.
The global health body's acting Assistant Director-General Keiji Fukuda insisted the outbreak would have been more severe if the WHO had not raised its pandemic alert two weeks ago.
More cases than confirmed
MEXICO CITY - THE swine flu virus was confirmed on Tuesday to have spread to new more countries as scientists estimated the new strain could have sickened 23,000 people in Mexico alone before anyone realised it was an epidemic.
A study published on Monday in the journal Science estimated Mexico alone may have had 23,000 cases of swine flu by April 23, the day it announced the epidemic.
'If countries had not been thinking about what to do in this kind of situation, the fact is we would have had much more confusion,' Mr Fukuda said.'In many ways, the severity would have been greater.'
The WHO raised its alert to five on a scale of six two weeks ago, signalling that a pandemic was 'imminent' after Mexico and the United States showed sustained local transmission of the influenza A(H1N1) virus.
The alert prompted countries to take specific measures, including looking at distribution of anti-viral drugs or issuing travel advice at airports.
The WHO's death toll passed 50 at the weekend after Costa Rica reported its first fatality from the flu - believed to be a mix of bird and human flu which came together in pigs - and the United States confirmed a third death.
Defending the agency, WHO's Mr Fukuda said: 'It's often hard to see what you would have prevented by doing so much work... if things turn out that few people die, it would be the best of all possible outcomes.'
Thailand on Tuesday confirmed its first two cases in patients who had travelled to Mexico, the epicentre of the outbreak where authorities have put the death toll at 56. The WHO has only confirmed 48 of those deaths. The swine flu virus was first reported in Mexico in April, but has since spread to more than 30 nations.
US health officials meanwhile reported that the 2,600 confirmed cases across the United States represented just the tip of the iceberg of actual infections.
Most of the 4,694 cases confirmed by the WHO have involved relatively mild symptoms and the virus has proved to be treatable with anti-viral drugs such as Tamiflu so far, prompting questions about whether the WHO had acted too rashly. -- AFP.
