Things are definitely moving rapidly on the potential Swine Flu pandemic.
The World Health Organization has issued new information just minutes ago
The World Health Organization says there are now 40 confirmed cases of swine flu in the United States and that it "very concerned" about the disease's spread.
WHO says none of the cases in the U.S. have been fatal.
But the U.N. agency says it could decide in a matter of hours whether to raise its pandemic alert level as a result of the increasing number of confirmed swine flu cases in Mexico and elsewhere.
In the UK, 17 potential cases being investigated.
And the State Department may issue a travel warning later today to Mexico
The U.S. State Department plans to issue a travel warning later on Monday urging Americans to avoid all "nonessential" travel to Mexico because of an outbreak of swine flu, a U.S. official said.
"There will be a travel warning urging Americans to avoid all nonessential travel to Mexico because of the swine flu," said a U.S. official, who spoke on condition he not be named as the warning has not yet been announced.
The news this morning was awash in Swine Flu news, and hopefully people are taking precautions or seeking treatment if they have symptoms.
There is a probable case in Michigan now.
A scare in S. Carolina
And from the way back machine, as Senator, our President was fairly good at seeing this future.
His speech on the Senate floor in 2005 rings eerily applicable to the current swine flu crisis. Then, as a freshman senator, he said:
“The experts have told us repeatedly that a flu pandemic is inevitable, although the timing is unpredictable. In other words, the question is not if, but when. This spread of avian flu is our warning signal, and we need to heed this call to action.”
“If we're lucky,” Obama continued, “we'll have at least a year, or perhaps several years, to prepare for a flu pandemic. But we might not be so lucky. And regardless of whether it is this particular strain of avian flu, H5N1, or another deadly strain, the time to act is long overdue if we want to prevent unprecedented human suffering, death, and economic devastation.”
Here is a speculative but great read on the possible origin and original carrier: A hog farm in Mexico where fecal flies carried the disease into the local population.
Stay up to date here through the day.
Three Possible/Probable cases now in Dallas County Texas.
Dallas County Health Officials say three probable cases of swine flu have popped up in the county.
Health officials say the three newly discovered cases don't require a quarantine or even hospitalization, but they are assessing risks.
The ages of the unidentified victims are 24 and 7 years old, and 3 months old. Health officials came to the Turimex bus station near the Dallas Zoo to instruct operators in what to look for in passengers and sanitation steps for buses themselves.
This is getting worse...
MEXICO CITY (AP) - A powerful earthquake has rocked tall buildings in Mexico capital, sending office workers down stairways into the streets.
This is a double tragedy now in the making.