That is, swine flu the H1N1 virus doesn't look like it's mixing with its avian counterpart to form some sort of volatile, death-defying H1N1+H5N1 (H5N2?) super-pandemic.

The World Health Organisation said on Thursday that the H1N1 virus was stable and there was no sign yet of it mixing with other influenza viruses.

Some health officials have raised concerns that if H1N1, known by many as swine flu, combined with the much deadlier H5N1 bird flu virus then the pandemic could claim many more lives.

"The virus is still very stable," WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan told reporters at a news briefing in Moscow when asked if there were any signs of the virus mixing with other strains such as avian flu.

A stable pandemic is still a pandemic, sure, but it befits the calm way with which the virus should be treated to make note of this relative stability.

(image from flickr user ittybittiesforyou under a Creative Commons license)