The World Health Organization put out this news release today about the swine flu (renamed influenza A(H1N1)):

As of 23:30 GMT, 1 May 2009, 13 countries have officially reported 367 cases of influenza A(H1N1) infection.

The United States Government has reported 141 laboratory confirmed human cases, including one death. Mexico has reported 156 confirmed human cases of infection, including nine deaths.

The following countries have reported laboratory confirmed cases with no deaths - Austria (1), Canada (34), China, Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region (1), Denmark (1), Germany (4), Israel (2), Netherlands (1), New Zealand (4), Spain (13), Switzerland (1) and the United Kingdom (8).

It's clear that a global pandemic is underway. Consider the following statement on April 29 from the Director-General of the WHO, Dr. Margaret Chan:

For the first time in history, we can track the evolution of a pandemic in real-time. ... WHO will be tracking the pandemic at the epidemiological, clinical, and virological levels. ... The biggest question, right now, is this: how severe will the pandemic be, especially now at the start?

We're all waiting for the answer to that question -- with our masks at the ready. And never before have we had so many ways to scare ourselves silly with immediate updates on the outbreak that may be true. That'll be the subject of my next post.