Swine Flu Update: Phase 4 Pandemic Alert, 10,000 Tweets Per Hour

The Swine Flu outbreak is worsening.  World Health Organization (WHO) officials have raised the Swine Flu Pandemic Alert to Phase 4.

Here is the explanation from the WHO website:

Phase 4 is characterized by verified human-to-human transmission of an animal or human-animal influenza reassortant virus able to cause “community-level outbreaks.” The ability to cause sustained disease outbreaks in a community marks a significant upwards shift in the risk for a pandemic. Any country that suspects or has verified such an event should urgently consult with WHO so that the situation can be jointly assessed and a decision made by the affected country if implementation of a rapid pandemic containment operation is warranted. Phase 4 indicates a significant increase in risk of a pandemic but does not necessarily mean that a pandemic is a forgone conclusion.

The American public is very worked up about this, and probably with good cause. Trendrr, which tracks trends across social media sites, just reported some numbers that are staggering.

As the chart below shows, tweets about “Swine Flu” have hit 10,000 per hour.  That is truly an insane amount of tweeting, even if it is about Swine Flu.

We’ll keep you updated on all the latest – just follow this tag: Swine Flu Outbreak.

Amazon is also now offering a Swine Flu Safety Kit that sells for $25.

The kit has been designed by the medical team at BP MEDICAL SUPPLIES in order to protect those citizens and officials who are working in areas where there is a higher risk of infection or contamination by Swine Flu.

The kit contains:

Swine Flu Safety Kit

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