Swine Flu Outbreak: New Cases, Safety Measures, Level 4 upgrade

There are reports the World Health Organization will raise its pandemic alert to an unprecedented level today, saying that swine flu is spreading across North America.

The suspected death toll from the outbreak of swine flu in Mexico rose Monday to 149 people as health authorities cancelled all schools across the country until May 6.

Since the first case of swine flu was reported, 1,995 people have been hospitalized with serious cases of pneumonia, said Cordova, and 1,070 of these people have been released.

The World Health Organization could raise its pandemic alert level to phase 4 or even to phase 5 -- indicating a deadly swine flu was spreading significantly among humans, a WHO spokesman said on Monday.

Going to phase 4 on the WHO's 6-point scale would mean the WHO believes that a potential pandemic virus has shown it could transmit easily from person to person.

Moving it directly to phase 5 would indicate that the disease was already spreading significantly among humans

The Mexico City government is considering a complete shutdown if the death toll keeps rising, including all public transport. Mayor Marcelo Ebrard said surgical masks were being distributed at subway and bus stops across the city.

U.S. officials will begin asking travelers about illness if they are entering the country from areas with confirmed swine flu cases. Passengers would no be barred from getting into the U.S., but they could be referred for further testing, said Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano at a White House briefing.

Many countries have issued travel warnings for Mexico and the United States.

    Many Asian countries have put in place quarantine and precautionary plans which were used during the SARS epidemic and bird flu outbreaks.

"We still don't have any cases in Toronto or the rest of the province of Ontario," Toronto Public Health's Rishma Govani said yesterday.

"We've been planning for years for a pandemic," she said. "It's obviously unpredictable and the situation is always changing ... but we are a dedicated team.

"If it were to escalate, our whole staff is prepared," Govani said. "We have the experience with some of the lessons of SARS in 2003."

U.S. 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.

Obama told a gathering of scientists in Washington today 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.

"That is something that will be done if it's necessary to do it," Flaherty told reporters in Toronto. "But right now it's a question of monitoring the situation."

Finance Minister Agustin Carstens said there’s “high potential” the outbreak will disrupt the economy, with hotels and restaurants being the hardest hit.

Russia banned the import of meat products from Mexico, California, Texas and Kansas. South Korea said it would increase the number of its influenza virus checks on pork products from Mexico and the U.S

Serbia has banned pork imports after the outbreak of the deadly swine flu virus that has so far killed at least 100 people in Mexico.

China has banned hog and pork product imports from Mexico and parts of the United States with immediate effect.

The United Arab Emirates is considering banning imports of pork products from Mexico and the United States.