The H1N1 swine flu virus has spread to 74 countries, with a sharp increase in reported cases in Australia. The UN have called an emergency meeting to discuss the imapct of an imminent declaration by the World Health Organisation to raise the level from 5 to 6, which would see the world in its first global pandemic since 1968. A pandemic which killed around one million people. The disease is classed as a pandemic when it has spread from human to human when widespread within two regions of the world. If a pandemic is declared, governments could quite quickly call for travel bans and school closures, a move which could in theory start bringing organisations to a standstill. (more…)