Swine Flew over the Cuckoos Nest

Number of US Swine Flu Cases Doubles
Students in Private New York School Contracted Virus
LAURAN NEERGAARD, AP
posted: 7 MINUTES AGO
Retrieved Verbatim -- PD [HERE]
filed under: Health News, National News, Swine Flu, World News

WASHINGTON (April 27) — Amid surging worries about a global pandemic, the United States launched border screening for swine flu exposure Monday and a top federal health official said people should brace for more severe cases, "and possibly deaths."
Meanwhile, President Barack Obama says the spread of swine flu is a cause for concern but "not a cause of alarm" and he's staying on top of the problem.

The number of confirmed swine flu cases in the United States has doubled to 40, the World Health Organization announced Monday, saying it was "very concerned" about the disease's spread.
Obama told a gathering of scientists Monday that the administration is "closely monitoring" cases of swine flu, how many people have it and what the threat is. Obama also said the American people can expect to get regular and frequent updates about what Washington is doing.
He said the swine flu threat dramatizes how the United States cannot allow itself to fall behind in scientific and medical research.
Richard Besser, acting head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, revealed that American authorities were undertaking "passive screening" at its borders and reiterated the Obama administration's call for people to remain calm. Besser said that U.S. officials at border checkpoints were "asking people about fever and illness, looking for people who are ill."
The U.S. declared a national health emergency Sunday in the midst of uncertainty about whether a mounting sick count really meant ongoing infections — or just that health officials had missed something simmering for weeks or months. But the declaration did allow Washington to ship roughly 12 million doses of flu-fighting medications from a federal stockpile to states in case they eventually need them.

Besser traveled the morning news-show circuit Monday, telling interviewers the U.S. government was being "extremely aggressive" and saying he wouldn't personally recommend traveling to parts of Mexico where the new virus has taken hold. But he noted that the issue of a travel ban was under discussion and that nothing had been decided.
Besser said he was not reassured by the fact that so far in the U.S., no one has died from the disease.
"From what we understand in Mexico, I think people need to be ready for the idea that we could see more severe cases in this country and possibly deaths," he said. "That's something people have to be ready for and we're looking for that. So far, thankfully, we haven't seen that. But we're very concerned and that's why we're taking very aggressive measures."
A private school in South Carolina closed after some students returned from Mexico with flu-like symptoms.
Officials of Newberry Academy said in a statement that seniors were in Mexico earlier this month and some had flu like symptoms when they returned. Calls to the school went unanswered Monday.
State Department of Health and Environmental Control spokesman Jim Beasley said test results on the students could come back as early as Monday afternoon. The agency has stepped up efforts to investigate all flu cases in South Carolina. There have been no confirmed swine flu cases in the state.