http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30453688/
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Health officials say the number of confirmed swine flu cases in the United States has jumped to 68.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that the new count includes ?a number of hospitalizations? but they did not say how many. CDC officials had previously said there had been just one person hospitalized.
The cases are still only in the five states where they previously were reported. There are 17 new cases in New York City, four more in Texas and three additional cases in California.
That brings the total confirmed cases to 45 in New York City, 10 in California, six in Texas, two in Kansas and one in Ohio.
A handful of schools around the country have closed over swine flu fears and some people are wearing masks, but it's mostly business as usual in the U.S.
While Asian countries deployed thermal sensors at airports to screen passengers from North America for signs of fever, there have been no extra screenings at the U.S. border with the country considered ground zero for the outbreak.
No deaths have been reported in the U.S. so far. In contrast, there have been over 150 deaths in neighboring Mexico, ground zero for the illness.
World health officials said they suspect American patients may have transmitted the virus to others in the U.S. Health Organization spokesman Gregory Hartl said WHO was waiting for U.S. authorities to announce that a number of students at a New York high school have passed the virus on to one another after their return from a spring vacation in Mexico. ?I think we might have one other instance in the U.S.,? he said.
President Barack Obama on Monday characterized the U.S. cases as a cause for concern but not "a cause for alarm." The federal government said travel warnings for trips to Mexico would remain in place as long as swine flu is detected.
The Obama administration on Tuesday defended its "passive surveillance" policy to deal with the threat, saying that it's measured, cautious border monitoring makes sense.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Tuesday that more draconian enforcement steps are not yet necessary, even as she acknowledged that officials "anticipate confirmed cases in more states." She reiterated President Barack Obama's stance that people are justifiably concerned but need not be alarmed by it.
"We anticipate that there will be confirmed cases in more states as we go through the coming days," Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said on NBC's "Today" show Tuesday.
Napolitano assured of a "very broad multi-agency federal response" and said that she and a number of Cabinet members had met into the night Monday to discuss strategy. She also the administration wouldn't wait for a World Health Organization declaration of a pandemic to deliver a pandemic-like response.
Noting that the international health body has elevated its pandemic alert status to Level 4 of a 6-step process, Napolitano said: "We're prepared as if there were a pandemic. We're not waiting."
Scattered protective steps
Scattered protective steps were being taken across the U.S. A few schools were closed ? in Cibolo and New Braunfels, Texas; Claremont and Mira Mesa, Calif.; and Columbia, S.C. ? and residents of Guadalupe County, outside San Antonio, were asked to avoid public gatherings and stay home if they are ill.
Pharmacies in Manhattan reported that paper face masks were selling by the box. One pharmacy owner said he had to order more from his wholesale supplier for the first time since the SARS epidemic six years ago.
Security guards at all entrances of the University of Chicago Medical Center required anyone walking in to use a liquid disinfectant. At Rush University Medical Center, anyone seeking treatment for fever, runny nose and coughs was being tested for flu with nasal swabs.
Elsewhere, there were signs of growing unease among the public, even in places where there was no immediately known cause for alarm.
Pharmacies in Manhattan reported that paper face masks were selling by the box. One pharmacy owner said he had to order more from his wholesale supplier for the first time since the SARS epidemic six years ago.
Students at a Chicago school were instructed not to shake hands with anyone, and Southern Illinois University urged students to wash their hands frequently and cover their mouths when coughing. There were no known swine flu cases in Illinois.
And in New Mexico, which also had no reported cases, health officials were so besieged by calls from concerned citizens that they set up a swine flu hot line.
Richard Besser, the acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said his agency was looking for evidence of the disease spreading and probing for ways to control and prevent it.
The government also issued an advisory warning travelers to cancel any nonessential visits to Mexico. It also took issue with a European Union health official who said the same thing about travel to parts of the U.S.
At the White House, a swine flu update, delivered by White House homeland security adviser John Brennan, was added to the president's daily intelligence briefing.
FDA issues emergency flu drug rules
The Food and Drug Administration issued emergency guidance late Monday that allows certain antiviral drugs to be used in a broader range of the population in case mass dosing is needed to deal with a widespread swine flu outbreak.
The agency originally approved the use of the antiviral drug Tamiflu for the prevention and treatment of influenza in adults and children age 1 and older. Another antiviral drug, Relenza, was originally approved to treat people 7 and older and to help prevent flu in those 5 and older.
The White House also aimed to sidestep a potentially problematic diplomatic headache. Press secretary Robert Gibbs declined to discuss whether Obama officials have any concern about when Mexico notified the U.S. of the outbreak ? particularly significant given the president's trip to Mexico on April 16 and 17.
The White House said Monday that its medical unit asked if Mexican health officials and U.S. Embassy medical staff had any concerns about infectious disease and were told they did not. But a White House statement said, "We have no reason to believe they withheld any information they had at the time."
msnbc.com news services
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Health officials say the number of confirmed swine flu cases in the United States has jumped to 68.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that the new count includes ?a number of hospitalizations? but they did not say how many. CDC officials had previously said there had been just one person hospitalized.
The cases are still only in the five states where they previously were reported. There are 17 new cases in New York City, four more in Texas and three additional cases in California.
That brings the total confirmed cases to 45 in New York City, 10 in California, six in Texas, two in Kansas and one in Ohio.
A handful of schools around the country have closed over swine flu fears and some people are wearing masks, but it's mostly business as usual in the U.S.
While Asian countries deployed thermal sensors at airports to screen passengers from North America for signs of fever, there have been no extra screenings at the U.S. border with the country considered ground zero for the outbreak.
No deaths have been reported in the U.S. so far. In contrast, there have been over 150 deaths in neighboring Mexico, ground zero for the illness.
World health officials said they suspect American patients may have transmitted the virus to others in the U.S. Health Organization spokesman Gregory Hartl said WHO was waiting for U.S. authorities to announce that a number of students at a New York high school have passed the virus on to one another after their return from a spring vacation in Mexico. ?I think we might have one other instance in the U.S.,? he said.
President Barack Obama on Monday characterized the U.S. cases as a cause for concern but not "a cause for alarm." The federal government said travel warnings for trips to Mexico would remain in place as long as swine flu is detected.
The Obama administration on Tuesday defended its "passive surveillance" policy to deal with the threat, saying that it's measured, cautious border monitoring makes sense.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Tuesday that more draconian enforcement steps are not yet necessary, even as she acknowledged that officials "anticipate confirmed cases in more states." She reiterated President Barack Obama's stance that people are justifiably concerned but need not be alarmed by it.
"We anticipate that there will be confirmed cases in more states as we go through the coming days," Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said on NBC's "Today" show Tuesday.
Napolitano assured of a "very broad multi-agency federal response" and said that she and a number of Cabinet members had met into the night Monday to discuss strategy. She also the administration wouldn't wait for a World Health Organization declaration of a pandemic to deliver a pandemic-like response.
Noting that the international health body has elevated its pandemic alert status to Level 4 of a 6-step process, Napolitano said: "We're prepared as if there were a pandemic. We're not waiting."
Scattered protective steps
Scattered protective steps were being taken across the U.S. A few schools were closed ? in Cibolo and New Braunfels, Texas; Claremont and Mira Mesa, Calif.; and Columbia, S.C. ? and residents of Guadalupe County, outside San Antonio, were asked to avoid public gatherings and stay home if they are ill.
Pharmacies in Manhattan reported that paper face masks were selling by the box. One pharmacy owner said he had to order more from his wholesale supplier for the first time since the SARS epidemic six years ago.
Security guards at all entrances of the University of Chicago Medical Center required anyone walking in to use a liquid disinfectant. At Rush University Medical Center, anyone seeking treatment for fever, runny nose and coughs was being tested for flu with nasal swabs.
Elsewhere, there were signs of growing unease among the public, even in places where there was no immediately known cause for alarm.
Pharmacies in Manhattan reported that paper face masks were selling by the box. One pharmacy owner said he had to order more from his wholesale supplier for the first time since the SARS epidemic six years ago.
Students at a Chicago school were instructed not to shake hands with anyone, and Southern Illinois University urged students to wash their hands frequently and cover their mouths when coughing. There were no known swine flu cases in Illinois.
And in New Mexico, which also had no reported cases, health officials were so besieged by calls from concerned citizens that they set up a swine flu hot line.
Richard Besser, the acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said his agency was looking for evidence of the disease spreading and probing for ways to control and prevent it.
The government also issued an advisory warning travelers to cancel any nonessential visits to Mexico. It also took issue with a European Union health official who said the same thing about travel to parts of the U.S.
At the White House, a swine flu update, delivered by White House homeland security adviser John Brennan, was added to the president's daily intelligence briefing.
FDA issues emergency flu drug rules
The Food and Drug Administration issued emergency guidance late Monday that allows certain antiviral drugs to be used in a broader range of the population in case mass dosing is needed to deal with a widespread swine flu outbreak.
The agency originally approved the use of the antiviral drug Tamiflu for the prevention and treatment of influenza in adults and children age 1 and older. Another antiviral drug, Relenza, was originally approved to treat people 7 and older and to help prevent flu in those 5 and older.
The White House also aimed to sidestep a potentially problematic diplomatic headache. Press secretary Robert Gibbs declined to discuss whether Obama officials have any concern about when Mexico notified the U.S. of the outbreak ? particularly significant given the president's trip to Mexico on April 16 and 17.
The White House said Monday that its medical unit asked if Mexican health officials and U.S. Embassy medical staff had any concerns about infectious disease and were told they did not. But a White House statement said, "We have no reason to believe they withheld any information they had at the time."
