Flu Threat Slowing Down

The worldwide spread of swine flu is slowing, with the number of infected people worldwide at about 700 in 18 countries as of Sunday, according to the World Health Organization. The increase was smaller than expected, as was the number of fatalities.

The WHO on Saturday said there was no evidence of the swine flu virus spreading in a sustained way outside North America, ending a week during which it almost daily raised the pandemic alert level. In just three days after the flu broke out in Mexico on April 24, about 2,400 suspected cases had been reported in some 20 countries around the world.

Bloomberg on Sunday reported the WHO would still raise the pandemic alert to phase 6, the highest on its alert scale, "even as some reports say many cases of swine flu show symptoms no more severe than seasonal flu."

But Reuters quoted some experts as already talking about the possibility that the flu will die down quietly, "assuming it follows the normal pattern for influenzas."