CABI Blogs: hand picked... and carefully sorted

Flu pandemic?

WHO alerted the world last week of a flu outbreak in Mexico that is caused by a new swine virus. The 'swine flu' has caused >80 deaths since March this year. The same strain is confirmed to have caused cases in California and now some ill people have travelled by air internationally, so cases are being reported worldwide. Is this a pandemic and how dangerous is it?

Swine flu: can it be stopped at the border?

Anyone looking at the news in the last couple of days can be of no doubt as to the leading story of the moment (well, at least it makes a change from the credit crunch). Over 100 deaths from swine flu in Mexico, confirmed cases in the USA, Canada and now Spain, and suspected cases in countries from New Zealand to Israel, have caused fears of a possible pandemic. But what can the world do to limit spread of the virus?