Who Can Declare a Pandemic and What Criteria Are Required for an Outbreak to Be Called a Pandemic?

This article was originally published on March 18, 2020.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is responsible for declaring a pandemic. WHO monitors disease activity on a global scale through a network of centres located in countries worldwide and has a pandemic preparedness plan that consists of six phases of pandemic alert. Phase 1 represents the lowest level of alert and usually indicates that a newly emerged or previously existing virus is circulating among animals, with low risk of transmission to humans. Phase 6, the pandemic phase, is declared when an outbreak is characterized by globally widespread and sustained disease transmission among humans.