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25. The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN)
that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948,
and headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its
predecessor, the Health Organization, which had been an agency of the League of Nations.
26. The WHO's constitution states that its objective "is the attainment by all peoples of the highest
possible level of health."
27. The WHO and UN will become the controlling agencies in the US in the event of a declared
pandemic level 6.
28. The World Health Organization (WHO) has developed a global influenza preparedness plan,
which defines the stages of a pandemic, outlines WHO's role and makes recommendations for
national measures before and during a pandemic.
Phases
WHO Pandemic Influenza Phases (2009) [80]
Phase Description
No animal influenza virus circulating among animals have been reported to cause
Phase 1
infection in humans.
An animal influenza virus circulating in domesticated or wild animals is known to have
Phase 2 caused infection in humans and is therefore considered a specific potential pandemic
threat.
An animal or human-animal influenza reassortant virus has caused sporadic cases or
Phase 3 small clusters of disease in people, but has not resulted in human-to-human
transmission sufficient to sustain community-level outbreaks.
Human to human transmission of an animal or human-animal influenza reassortant
Phase 4
virus able to sustain community-level outbreaks has been verified.
Phase 5 Human-to-human spread of the virus in two or more countries in one WHO region.
In addition to the criteria defined in Phase 5, the same virus spreads from human-to-
Phase 6
human in at least one other country in another WHO region.
Post peak Levels of pandemic influenza in most countries with adequate surveillance have
period dropped below peak levels.
Post Levels of influenza activity have returned to the levels seen for seasonal influenza in
