As isolated outbreaks of swine flu continue to be confirmed around the world, with new cases reported Tuesday in Canada, Israel, France, New Zealand, Costa Rica and South Korea, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proclaimed a state of emergency and the White House asked Congress for an additional $1.5 billion to fight the outbreak.
State health officials have been aggressively working to address the crisis, and the proclamation is one more step in that effort, not an indication that the outbreak in California has become more severe.
In the U.S. and elsewhere, officials are holding their breath to see whether the virus' spread will turn into something more severe or, as many hope, peter out. Meanwhile, like Schwarzenegger, they are responding aggressively.
President Obama, in a letter to Congress, asked for the $1.5 billion with "maximum flexibility to allow us to address this emerging situation." The letter said the money could go toward stockpiling antiviral medicine, vaccine development, disease monitoring and diagnosis, and assisting international efforts to limit the spread of swine flu.
"In our opinion, this is about prudent planning moving forward," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters.
Also Tuesday, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said she was forming a swine flu task force to coordinate U.S. efforts and noted that the government had made 12 million doses of antiviral drugs available to states. She said her agency was resisting calls from Capitol Hill to screen inbound air travelers from Mexico and those crossing at border checkpoints.
"Our focus is not on closing the border or conducting exit screening," she said. "It is on mitigation."
The total number of confirmed swine flu cases in the United States had reached 68 as of late Tuesday afternoon and more than 100 worldwide, not counting the still-unknown number of cases in Mexico. At least some of the new cases appear to have come from human-to-human transmission outside Mexico.
Such community transmission is one of the early earmarks of a pandemic, and if it continues to be observed, experts predicted, the World Health Organization is likely to raise its alert to Level 5, from elevated Level 4. Such an increase might involve more travel restrictions and stronger efforts to control the spread of the virus.
