Obama concerned not alarmed at swine flu
Barack Obama says swine flu outbreak is cause for concern but not alarm
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Monday, 27, Apr 2009 10:37
Barack Obama says the United States is closely monitoring the emerging cases of swine flu but urged people to remain calm.
The state department is to advise against all nonessential travel to Mexico after more than 100 people died after a recent swine influenza outbreak.
More than 40 cases have been confirmed north of the border, but no one has died outside Mexico.
Speaking at the 146th annual meeting of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), President Obama said of the outbreak: "This is obviously a cause for concern and requires a heightened state of alert. But it is not a cause for alarm.
"The department of health and human services has declared a public health emergency as a precautionary tool to ensure that we have the resources we need at our disposal to respond quickly and effectively.
"I'm getting regular updates on the situation from the responsible agencies, and the department of health and human services as well as the centres for disease control will be offering regular updates to the American people so that they know what steps are being taken and what steps they may need to take.
"But one thing is clear – our capacity to deal with a public health challenge of this sort rests heavily on the work of our scientific and medical community. And this is one more example of why we cannot allow our nation to fall behind."