According to the AP news wires, the World Health Organization has told its member nations it is declaring an H1N1 flu pandemic — the first in 41 years.

According to the report: “The move came Thursday as infections climbed in the United States, Europe, Australia, South America and elsewhere.

In a statement sent to member countries, WHO says it decided to raise the pandemic alert level from phase 5 to 6, meaning that a global outbreak of swine flu has begun. The decision was made after the U.N. health agency held an emergency meeting on swine flu with its experts. The last flu pandemic was in 1968.

The pandemic declaration will require all countries, including the dozens that haven’t yet reported any cases, to launch pandemic-prevention plans.

Peter Cordingley, a spokesman for the WHO based in Manila, noted that the term pandemic was “a measure of the spread of the virus, not the severity of the virus.” The virus’s effects are moderate at the moment, he noted. “But it’s still going to infect an awful lot of people.”

Just over half the world’s confirmed H1N1 cases, or 13,217, are in the U.S., including 27 deaths, according to the WHO.”

You can help your customers prevent the H1N1 flu virus from infecting them with imprinted hand sanitizers.

EcoMarketingSolutions.com has just slashed their prices on these sanitizers– wipes and spray misters–to do their part in helping to prevent the spread of this pandemic. Both are available for under a dollar –with your logo. These are great for trade shows, gift with purchase–or even for resale. Click here for details of these custom imprinted hand sanitizers.

Wash your hands, keep your fingers away from your mouth, and let’s all stay calm in fighting the H1N1 virus, formerly known as Swine Flu.

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Robert Piller, experienced in green marketing campaigns and environmentally-friendly promotional products. His web site includes a comprehensive eco-friendly advertising specialty search, featuring over 250,000 eco promotional items in all price ranges, for any company interested in going green. The site’s handy search tool helps you easily find recyclable, biodegradable, organic or recycled imprinted promotional items in your price range and time frame. View the Go Green website at EcoMarketingSolutions.com and comment on his blog postings at GreenSpotBlog.com.