WHO: Swine flu ‘unstoppable’

GENEVA —- The World Health Organization declared a swine flu pandemic Thursday —- the first global flu epidemic in 41 years —- as infections in the United States, Europe, Australia, South America and elsewhere climbed to nearly 30,000 cases.

The long-awaited pandemic announcement is scientific confirmation that a new flu virus has emerged and is quickly circling the globe. WHO will now ask drugmakers to speed up production of a vaccine, which it said would be available after September. The declaration will also prompt governments to devote more money toward efforts to contain the virus.

WHO chief Dr. Margaret Chan said she was moving to phase 6 —- the agency’s highest alert level —- which means a pandemic, or global epidemic, is under way.

“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.”

“However, we do not expect to see a sudden and dramatic jump in the number of severe and fatal infections,” she added.

On Thursday, WHO said 74 countries had reported 28,774 cases of swine flu, including 144 deaths. The agency has stressed that most cases are mild and require no treatment.

Still, about half of the people who have died from swine flu were previously young and healthy —- people who are not usually susceptible to flu.