Not to buy in to the hysteria or anything, but I’ve heard a couple of reports that WHO, the World Health Organization, has raised its pandemic alert level, but no one explained exactly what the levels mean. Here’s their explanation: http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/phase/en/index.html

Special bonus fact: People I know who work in epidemiology (e.g. Steve Goodreau) refer to WHO as “WHOm” when it is the object of a preposition.

The WHO influenza pandemic alert is currently at phase 4.