Swine Flu in Japan May Trigger Pandemic In U.S., 8 New York City
Schools Closed as H1N1 Swine Flu Spreads Across Nation Daniel J.
DeNoon WebMD Health News Louise Chang, MD May 18, 2009 -- H1N1
swine flu appears to be spreading in Japan, pushing the world to
the brink of an official flu pandemic. The Latest on H1N1 Swine
Flu Learn about H1N1 swine flu: Japan's cases of H1N1 spiked
today with 104 new lab-confirmed cases, raising that nation's
swine-flu case count from 25 to 129. Ten schools in the Kobe
City area reported 78 of the new cases. If the new cases do
indeed represent "community-level sustained transmission" of the
virus in Asia, it would be the second region of the world to
have wide spread of H1N1 swine flu. That would meet the official
WHO criteria for moving from the current level 5 pandemic alert
to the ultimate level 6 alert. Aside from the emotional shock,
the formal pandemic declaration won't mean a lot to the U.S.,
Anne Schuchat, MD, the CDC's interim deputy director for
science, said at a ne