I Don't Dig On Swine

Twenty new cases of swine flu were confirmed overnight in the United States, bringing the U.S. total to 40, Gregory Hartl, a spokesman for the World Health Organization, said today. All of the cases were mild, and there has still been only one hospitalization, that of an Imperial County woman, he noted.

Hartl also said one case had been confirmed in Spain, marking the first time the swine flu had been seen in Europe. That case was also mild and was observed in a traveler returning from Mexico, he said. He also noted there have been "rumors of cases in other countries," but none of those have been confirmed to be swine flu.

Mexico has said it has so far suffered 103 deaths from influenza, but Hartl noted that only 26 of those have been confirmed as swine flu -- "far, far under the numbers that have been bandied about."

Because of the outbreaks, a meeting of the World Health Organization emergency committee was moved up from Tuesday to today. The committee, now in session, will consider raising the alert level from its current baseline of three to a higher level.

Raising it to Level 4 would mean that the outbreak has been restricted to one geographic area "where a containment effort might be successful with a local, concentrated effort," Hartl said. Raising it to Level 5 would mean that the outbreak has spread across continents and would require a greater effort.

President Obama this morning counseled against panic in the face of the outbreak. He said the growing infection rate is a matter of concern but "not a cause for alarm."