Editing Pandemic (section)

=== WHO system ===
For a novel [[influenza virus]], WHO previously applied a six-stage classification to delineate the process by which the virus moves from the first few infections in humans through to a pandemic. Starting with phase 1 (infections identified in animals only), it moves through phases of increasing infection and spread to phase 6 (pandemic).<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/44123/9789241547680_eng.pdf |title=Pandemic influenza preparedness and response: a WHO guidance document |date=2009 | publisher = World Health Organization |isbn=978-92-4-154768-0 |pages=24–27 |access-date=17 August 2023}}</ref> In February 2020, a WHO spokesperson clarified that the system is no longer in use.<ref name="ReutersWHOnoLongerUsesPandemic">{{cite news |date=24 February 2020 |title=WHO says it no longer uses 'pandemic' category, but virus still emergency |publisher=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-china-health-who-idUKKCN20I0PD |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200318024718/https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-china-health-who-idUKKCN20I0PD |archive-date=18 March 2020 |quote=For the sake of clarification, WHO does not use the old system of 6 phases—that ranged from phase 1 (no reports of animal influenza causing human infections) to phase 6 (a pandemic)—that some people may be familiar with from H1N1 in 2009.}}</ref>