In planning for a possible influenza pandemic the WHO published a document on pandemic preparedness guidance in 1999, revised in 2005 and in February 2009, defining phases and appropriate actions for each phase in an aide memoir entitled WHO pandemic phase descriptions and main actions by phase. The 2009 revision, including definitions of a pandemic and the phases leading to its declaration, were finalized in February 2009. The pandemic H1N1 2009 virus, was neither on the horizon at that time nor mentioned in the document 

In a virtual press conference in May 2009 on the influenza pandemic Dr Keiji Fukuda, Assistant Director-General ad Interim for Health Security and Environment,
 WHO said "An easy way to think about pandemic ... is to say: a pandemic is a global outbreak. In planning
 for a possible influenza pandemic the WHO published a document on pandemic preparedness guidance
 in 1999, revised in 2005 and in February 2009, defining phases
 and appropriate actions for each phase in an aide memoir entitled WHO pandemic phase descriptions and main actions by phase. 

The 2009 revision, including definitions of a pandemic and the phases leading to its declaration, were finalized in February 2009. The pandemic H1N1 2009 virus, was neither on the horizon at that time nor mentioned in the document. In a virtual press conference in May 2009 on the influenza pandemic Dr Keiji Fukuda, Assistant Director-General ad Interim for Health Security and Environment, WHO said "An easy way to think about pandemic ... is to say: a pandemic is a global outbreak. Then you might ask yourself: "What is a global outbreak"? Global outbreak means that we see both spread of the agent ... and then we see disease activities in addition to the spread of the virus."