Another Biden Gaffe

First the VP says to avoids planes and subways, then has to issue a clarification.

Swine Flu: Level 5

They just raised it:

GENEVA – The World Health Organization has raised its pandemic alert for swine flu to the second highest level, meaning that it believes a global outbreak of the disease is imminent.

WHO says the phase 5 alert means there is sustained human to human spread in at least two countries. It also signals that efforts to produce a vaccine will be ramped up.

WHO has confirmed human cases of swine flu in Mexico, the United States, Canada, Britain, Israel, New Zealand and Spain. Mexico and the U.S. have reported deaths.

WHO Director-General Margaret Chan made the decision Wednesday to raise the alert level from phase 4 — signifying transmission in only one country — after reviewing the latest scientific evidence on the outbreak.

WHO Raises Swine Flu Alert Level

Reuters:

MEXICO CITY/GENEVA (Reuters) - A new virus has killed up to 149 people in Mexico and the World Health Organization moved closer on Monday to declaring it the world's first flu pandemic since 1968 as the illness spread further in the United States and Europe.

The WHO raised its pandemic alert level to phase 4 over the deadly swine flu virus, indicating a significant increased risk of a pandemic, a global outbreak of a serious disease.

There were 40 confirmed cases of the flu in the United States, including 20 cases at a New York City school where eight cases were already identified, U.S. health officials said.

Heh: "Swine Flu Over The Cuckoo's Nest"

Swine Flu Emergency Declared

The U.S. has declared a public health emergency, with 20 cases in five states reported so far. Plus, the country's really in the best of hands:

“U.S. public health officials did not know about a growing outbreak of swine flu in Mexico until nearly a week after that country started invoking protective measures, and didn’t learn that the deaths were caused by a rare strain of the influenza until after Canadian officials did. . . . U.S. public health officials are still largely in the dark about what’s happening in Mexico two weeks after the outbreak was recognized.”

More basic info about swine flu here and here.

Roche says it is ready to deliver 3 million doses of tamiflu to the World Health Organization.