Egypt's ham-fisted, pigheaded ploy leads to riots

In Egypt today, Coptic Christian shantytown residents rioted over government attempts to slaughter all pigs in the country.  The government's action was ostensibly undertaken as an attempt to prevent the introduction of the H1N1 swine flu virus into the country.  However, as the story linked above (from the Telegraph) says: 

"The Egyptian authorities have admitted since ordering the slaughter last week that it was mainly a pretext for carrying out a reorganisation of the country's pig farms, which are used to supply the country's Coptic Christians, ten per cent of the population." 

The goal, apparently, is to ensure that pigs in the country are no longer raised in small, "unhygienic" holdings, for instance by trash collectors who feed their hogs with the trash they collect.

A story by Reuters opines that:

"...culling swine, largely viewed as unclean in Muslim Egypt, could help quell any public panic in the most populous Arab country."

So far, the only known case of this H1N1 Swine Flu strain actually being found in pigs occurred in Alberta Canada when a farmworker who had recently visited Mexico passed the virus on to his porcine charges.  That's right, human-to-swine spread, not swine-to-human.  (The pigs are all expected to recover, by the way.)  

There have been no cases of the disease identified in Egyptian swine (or any other beyond that one farm in Alberta).  There is certainly no epidemiological justification for slaughtering an entire nation of uninfected pigs.  

Both the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) have issued statements condemning the action, but Egypt is clearly not as interested in the science of the situation as they are in the propaganda value of being seen to do something (especially if that something only hurts a powerless minority group).

So far, the only Swine Flu-associated casualties in Egypt aren't cases of the disease, but 13 to 15+ civilians and police who have been injured in the rioting.  Let's hope it gets no worse. 

Edging closer to Phase 6, an Official Pandemic

The BBC just reported that there has been a confirmed case of human-to-human transmission in Spain. 

Here is the definition of Phase 6:

Phase 6, the pandemic phase, is characterized by community level outbreaks in at least one other country in a different WHO region in addition to the criteria defined in Phase 5. Designation of this phase will indicate that a global pandemic is under way.

"Community level outbreaks" are "sustained disease outbreaks in a community," and that criteria hasn't been met by this case; we'd need to see more than one generation of human-to-human transmission before we could call it a sustained disease outbreak in this community, but hope is swiftly waning that this outbreak will fail to become a pandemic --especially since we haven't been able to contain it in the Northern Hemisphere, where the flu season is coming to an end.

Today also saw the first confirmed death from the H1N1 strain in the US, a toddler from Texas.  My heart goes out to the parents and to the families of all of those who have died in Mexico, already.  I hope that not too many more of us will have to face what they've been through.

Phase 4 Pandemic Alert - Is this the right level?

Yesterday, the World Health Organization (WHO) in an emergency meeting raised the pandemic alert level to Phase 4 (statement here).  

The practical difference in the US was pretty much nil, since we have active cases to contend with already, but in some countries this is likely to lead to a stepped-up response.  

Because the WHO's pandemic alert level is written into some national pandemic flu plans as a trigger point for specific actions, it is a relevant issue and it's worth considering whether Phase 4 is the right level at this time.

Here is the definition for Phase 4:

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.

We certainly seem to meet this criteria with the outbreaks in Mexico, but let's take a look at Phase 5:

Phase 5 is characterized by human-to-human spread of the virus into at least two countries in one WHO region. While most countries will not be affected at this stage, the declaration of Phase 5 is a strong signal that a pandemic is imminent and that the time to finalize the organization, communication, and implementation of the planned mitigation measures is short.

We meet this criteria, as well, with the outbreak in Mexico and laboratory-confirmed human-to-human transmission from husband to wife in Kansas.  Both countries are in the Americas Region.

We don't yet meet the criteria for Phase 6 --or at least we can't confirm that we do:

Phase 6, the pandemic phase, is characterized by community level outbreaks in at least one other country in a different WHO region in addition to the criteria defined in Phase 5. Designation of this phase will indicate that a global pandemic is under way.

As they said over at Effect Measure, "... [the] WHO has been timid and slow" in responding to this crisis, and with this decision it seems they're continuing in that pattern.  

I realize that there are political and economic costs attached to moving to Phase 5 and that, with the world economy in shambles, this is an especially difficult time for the global community to have to face those costs.  But what does it do for the credibility of the WHO when anyone who can read can plainly see that we should be in Phase 5 by the agency's own definition?  

The World Health Organization does a tremendous amount of good in the world and they have an important role to play in managing this outbreak.  It's time for them to refocus and re-emerge with the courage to do this job as only they can; they should start by following their own guidelines.