In late March 2009, health workers began to detect cases of an influenza-like illness in three separate regions of Mexico. On April 25, health officials confirmed the emergence of a novel influenza A/H1N1 virus causing the illness.
On April 29, the U.N. World Health Organization (WHO) raised the pandemic influenza alert to Phase Five on a six-phase scale, indicating human-to-human spread of the virus in at least two countries in one WHO region. Although most countries remained unaffected as of early May 2009, the Phase Five declaration signaled that a pandemic could be imminent and that limited time remains to finalize the organization, communication, and implementation of planned mitigation measures.
On May 1, USAID activated a Washington, D.C.-based Response Management Team (RMT) to coordinate the U.S. Government response to international pandemic influenza, facilitate information sharing, and provide assistance through international and domestic agencies to contain the outbreak.
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