世界衛生組織總干事陳馮富珍女士10日在新聞發布會上宣布，肆虐全球一年多的甲型H1N1流感疫情目前已進入尾聲，處于“大流行后時期”，世衛組織去年6月發出的對甲流疫情的最高警戒級別也同時解除。這一決定是在世界頂級醫學專家對疫情進行評估后做出的。不過，陳馮富珍仍警告說，進入大流行后時期，并不意味著甲型H1N1病毒已經消失；預計H1N1病毒還會以季節性流感病毒的形式出現，并在今后若干年內繼續傳播，希望各國繼續對此保持警惕。

A medical staff shows a vial of H1N1 influenza vaccine during the H1N1 vaccination programme at a hospital in Nonthaburi province, on the outskirts of Bangkok January 11, 2010. (Agencies)

The H1N1 pandemic is over and the global outbreak turned out to be much less severe than was feared just over a year ago, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.

WHO director-general Margaret Chan once again rebutted criticism that the United Nations agency had hyped the first pandemic in more than 40 years, whose mildness left some Western governments holding huge stockpiles of unused vaccines.

The Hong Kong public health expert said the world had been lucky the H1N1 virus had not mutated into a more deadly form and that a safe vaccine developed in record time remained effective against it.

"We are now moving into the post-pandemic period. The new H1N1 virus has largely run its course," Chan said.

"That was the right call," she said, defending the decision taken in June last year to declare a pandemic.

The swine flu virus will continue to circulate as part of seasonal influenza for years to come, requiring health authorities to remain vigilant, she told a news conference.

It still threatens high-risk groups including pregnant women who would benefit from vaccination, she said.

Stockpiled H1N1 vaccines remain effective against the strain and so far the virus has not developed widespread resistance to the antiviral oseltamivir, the best treatment, she said.

The WHO's downgrading of the H1N1 outbreak to "post-pandemic" was based on recommendations by external influenza experts who conducted a review earlier in the day.

"I think even if we see severe outbreaks occurring in some countries -- which is still definitely possible -- that the global threat is really much lower and much different than a year ago," Keiji Fukuda, WHO's top flu expert, told reporters.

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(Agencies)

（中國日報網英語點津 Helen 編輯）