That was pretty obvious, right? But by making that Phase 6 declaration, countries around the world can start gearing up more resources to fight this bug. Drug makers are frantically working to create a vaccine in time for the fall flu season in the Northern Hemisphere.

Since flu season doesn’t start here until October, you may think there’s not really anything you can do right now. But there is! You can start thinking about your own plans should a flu hit this fall. What would you do if your kids got sick, or if school were cancelled? Does your employer have a plan at work if a large number of employees get sick? Can you work from home under certain conditions? Think about these things and take the time to develop your own family flu plan.

If you are interested, here are more headlines on the current H1N1 situation:

CDC: The CDC website has a full page of information, including a map that shows where the disease is most concentrated in the US.

AP: WHO’s pandemic flu alert scale: What does it mean?

Reuters: Novaris hopeful of H1N1 of flu vaccine by fall

KSDK: Missouri health officials readying for fall swine flu

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