WHO close to declaring swine flu pandemic?

The WHO has reported that some 19,273 individuals have been infected with A/H1N1 in 66 countries, adding that the declaration of a worldwide pandemic is not far away. Following the report of two more deaths in the US, WHO officials reported on Wednesday that the virus, still spreading rapidly across the globe, has claimed the lives of more than 117 individuals. The latest results released by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed that the new H1N1 virus has reached all 50 states and has infected over 1,078 new cases, bringing its total infection rate to 10,053, including 17 deaths. Australia's caseload increased by 204 to 501. Canada, on the other hand, identified 194 new cases, bringing its toll to 1,530 cases including three deaths. In Britain and Panama, the number of infected cases jumped by about 50 percent to 381 and 155, respectively. The total number of A/H1N1 infections in Japan rose to 396 after new cases were reported on Tuesday. Egyptian authorities also reported the country's first swine flu case, marking the spread of the virus to Africa. Saudi Arabia confirmed its first case of the H1N1 flu virus in a Filipino nurse, who had recently entered the country. Bulgaria and Nicaragua were the other countries to report their first cases on Wednesday. Country; Cases, Deaths United States of America; 10053, 17 Mexico; 5029, 97 Canada; 1530, 2 Australia; 501, 0 Japan; 385, 0 United Kingdom; 381, 0 Chile; 313, 0 Spain; 180, 0 Panama; 155, 0 Argentina; 131, 0 China; 69, 0 Costa Rica; 50, 1 El Salvador; 41, 0 Korea, Republic of; 41, 0 Peru; 40, 0 Ecuador; 39, 0 Italy; 30, 0 Germany; 28, 0 Hong Kong; 27, 0 France; 26, 0 Brazil; 20, 0 Colombia; 20, 0 Kuwait; 18, 0 Philippines; 16, 0 Uruguay; 15, 0 Guatemala; 14, 0 Belgium; 13, 0 Dominican Republic; 11, 0 Singapore; 11, 0 Switzerland; 10, 0 New Zealand; 10, 0 Sweden; 7, 0 Romania; 6, 0 Paraguay; 5, 0 Greece; 5, 0 Poland; 4, 0 Turkey; 4, 0 Cuba; 4, 0 Finland; 4, 0 Ireland; 4, 0 Norway; 4, 0 Netherlands; 4, 0 Bolivia; 3, 0 Lebanon; 3, 0 Venezuela; 3, 0 Vietnam; 3, 0 Russia; 3, 0 Portugal; 2, 0 Slovakia; 2, 0 Thailand; 2, 0 Honduras; 2, 0 Jamaica; 2, 0 Malaysia; 2, 0 Austria; 1, 0 Bahamas; 1, 0 Bahrain; 1, 0 Bulgaria; 1, 0 Cyprus; 1, 0 Czech Republic; 1, 0 Denmark; 1, 0 Egypt; 1, 0 Estonia; 1, 0 Hungary; 1, 0 Iceland; 1, 0 India; 1, 0 Nicaragua; 1, 0 Israel also reported 33 confirmed swine flu cases.

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Israel: 4th-most-dangerous place on Earth

According to a new Global Peace Index (GPI), Israel is currently considered the fourth-most-violent place in the world. The GPI, a report prepared for the Australia-based Institute for Economics and Peace in conjunction with the Economist Intelligence Unit, ranks 144 countries in a league table of peacefulness, the Guardian reported Wednesday. Iraq was ranked the most violent country in the world followed by Afghanistan and Somalia. Israel, which was dubbed the third-most-violent place last year, is even more dangerous than Sudan which is one step less-violent than Israel. New Zealand was named the most peaceful nation on Earth -- a title held by Iceland last year. The ranking is compiled considering twenty-three factors including political stability, risk of terrorism, murder rate, likelihood of violent demonstrations, respect for human rights, internal conflicts, arms imports and involvement in foreign wars. Afghanistan and Iraq are still considered as the most dangerous countries in the world despite the US' promise to bring peace and security to both countries. Quite interestingly the United States, which considers itself to be the champion of peace, only managed to rank 83 -- Sixteen places behind Cuba which is accuse by Washington of violating human rights. According to the report, this year's results shows that the economic crisis had made the world a little less peaceful. The authors of the report say that this "appears to reflect the intensification of violent conflict in some countries and the effects of both the rapidly rising food and fuel prices early in 2008 and the dramatic global economic downturn in the final quarter of the year." Ten most peaceful: 1- New Zealand 2- Denmark 3- Norway 4- Iceland 5- Austria 6- Sweden 7- Japan 8- Canada 9-Finland, Slovenia Ten most violent: 1- Iraq 2- Afghanistan 3- Somalia 4- Israel 5- Sudan 6- Democratic Republic of Congo 7- Chad 8- Pakistan 9- Russia 10- Zimbabwe

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Swine flu rapidly spreading in Asia

While officials believed that Asia had survived swine flu outbreak, the growing number of cases across the continent has raised concern. The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare on Saturday confirmed the country's first three swine flu cases, adding that all three had recently returned from Canada. Japanese authorities, who have been screening travelers for flu symptoms over the past month, are now tracking passengers on the same flight as the three individuals diagnosed with the new flu. The first confirmed swine flu case was also reported on Saturday in Australia. The patient is said to be the victim of a weak strain of the virus. New Zealand, the first country in the Asia-Pacific region infected with the virus, also reported two more cases on Saturday, increasing its confirmed cases to seven. The seventh H1N1 case was also reported in Israel; the patient however was reported to be recovering from the disease. Despite the increasing number of swine flu cases, WHO officials have not increased the global pandemic alert level, indicating that the disease is not rapidly spreading outside North America.

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WHO: swine flu infects 29 countries

The World Health Organization announced Saturday that the H1N1 (swine) flu virus has spread to 29 countries and confirmed 3440 cases of infection. The WHO said the latest infections are reported in Argentina, Panama, Australia and Japan. Mexico has reported 1364 laboratory-confirmed human cases of infection, including 45 deaths. The United States has reported 1639 laboratory-confirmed human cases, including two deaths. Canada has reported 242 laboratory-confirmed human cases, including one death. The following countries have reported laboratory confirmed cases with no deaths - Argentina (1), Australia (1), Austria (1), Brazil (6), China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (1), Colombia (1), Costa Rica (1), Denmark (1), El Salvador (2), France (12), Germany (11), Guatemala (1), Ireland (1), Israel (7), Italy (6), Japan (3), Netherlands (3), New Zealand (5), Panama (2), Poland (1), Portugal (1), Republic of Korea (3), Spain (88), Sweden (1), Switzerland (1) and the United Kingdom (34). Early signs of influenza H1N1 are flu-like, including fever, cough, headache, muscle and joint pain, sore throat and runny nose, and sometimes vomiting or diarrhea. No vaccine has been developed to fight the fatal virus named H1N1, which has traveled to four continents. The symptoms have been treated with antivirals. It is feared, however, that H1N1 might be resistant to antiviral medications. The World Health Organization prepares for the production of a vaccine against the H1N1 virus, as the number of confirmed swine flu cases passes the 2,000 mark.

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Danes named world's happiest nation

A new report finds Danes to be the happiest nation in the world due to their level of subjective well-being and life satisfaction. Northern European countries top the list of happy nations, with Sweden, Ireland, Canada, Switzerland, New Zealand, Norway and Belgium ranking 4th to 10th. Released by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) the survey was based on whether people believed their lives to be dominated by positive experiences and feelings or negative ones. The OECD used the data gathered from a 2008 Gallup World Poll conducted in 140 countries, which surveyed a representative sample of no more than 1,000 people, above the age 15, in each country. The OECD data shows that overall economic health, work-life balance and low unemployment are among the most important factors which can bring happiness into people's lives. The OECD is an international organization that provides economic and social statistics and data, helping governments tackle economic, social and governance challenges.

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