GENEVA — Dozens of countries urged the World Health Organization on Monday to change its criteria for declaring a pandemic, saying the agency must consider how deadly a virus is — not just how far it spreads across the globe.
Afraid that a swine-flu pandemic declaration could spark mass panic and economic devastation, Britain, Japan, China and others asked the global body to tread carefully before raising its alert. Some cited the costly and potentially risky consequences, such as switching from seasonal to pandemic vaccine, even though the virus so far appears to be mild.
Although no formal changes were made Monday, WHO said it would listen to its members’ requests.
“It’s certainly something we will look at very closely,” said Dr. Keiji Fukuda, WHO’s flu chief.
The alert for swine flu is now at Phase 5, which means the virus is spreading unchecked inside at least two countries in a single region. Under the existing rules, Phase 6 indicates outbreaks in at least two different regions of the world and that a pandemic is underway.
“We need to give you and your team more flexibility as to whether we move to Phase 6,” Britain’s health secretary, Alan Johnson, told WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan, a public-health veteran who has made combating the outbreak her top priority since the new virus appeared in North America last month.
Chan warned that swine flu could pose a grave threat to humanity even though the fatality rate is low, with 76 known deaths out of 8,829 confirmed cases.
“This virus may have given us a grace period, but we do not know how long this grace period will last,” Chan said. “No one can say whether this is just the calm before the storm.”
Chile is the latest country to report a case, bringing the total number of nations confirming infections to 40.
Japan reported the largest jump, to more than 130 cases in four days. Most involved high school students who had not traveled overseas.
Spain and Britain have the highest numbers of cases in Europe, reporting 103 and 101 cases, respectively.
A pandemic announcement would likely have severe economic consequences: It could trigger expensive trade and travel restrictions such as border closures, airport screenings and quarantines.
Governments also fear mass panic, social disruption and overwhelmed health systems.
