TORONTO - The World Health Organization will ask influenza and public health experts to help it rewrite its rule on when to declare a pandemic.
The WHO's chief flu expert, Dr. Keiji Fukuda, says the Geneva-based agency will consult a variety of experts over the next few weeks.
A number of countries have pressured the WHO to rethink what constitutes a pandemic because of the mild nature of the illness caused by the spreading H1N1 flu virus.
The countries say the definition ought to take into account how much severe illness a virus is causing.
Fukuda says hitting on a single index of severity likely wouldn't work, because a new flu virus would probably hit some places harder than others.
But he says the WHO hopes through the consultation to address the concerns of countries.
