Brussels, 12/06/2009 (Agence Europe) - In a joint press release, the European Commission and the Czech Presidency of the Council formally noted the decision of the World Health Organisation, on Thursday evening 11 June, to raise the pandemic alert for influenza AH1N1 - better known as swine flu - to level 6. The Commission and Council will continue to monitor the situation closely, in cooperation with the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) and other international partners. They point out that, for the moment, symptoms are not severe and the mortality rate is low.
According to the latest ECDC report, the cumulative number of confirmed swine flu cases in the EU and EFTA countries is 1,565, with 567 cases of transmission within the country. The highest number of cases of person to person transmission are in the United Kingdom (380 cases) and Spain (127 cases). Across the globe, there have been 27,689 recorded cases of swine flu, with 144 deaths. (O.J./transl.rt)