Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday morning he has advised his family to avoid "confined places" such as aircraft, subways and classrooms because of the swine flu risk. Biden made the remarks on NBC's "Today Show," after he was asked what he would tell a family member about traveling to Mexico, where the first cases of the virus -- technically known as 2009 H1N1 -- were detected. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, is advising people ...

The White House asked Congress for an additional $1.5 billion for pandemic flu preparations Tuesday as the head of the Republican Party defended its opposition to an earlier request. President Obama requested the money be attached to an $83 billion war-spending bill now before lawmakers, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said. The request comes "out of an abundance of caution" sparked by the outbreak of swine flu in Mexico, Obama wrote in a letter to congressional leaders. "These funds should ...

In Mexico City, the government ran out of surgical masks after handing them out to one of every five residents. Manufacturers and pharmacies in Europe are also reporting a surge in demand for face masks. And a Texas-based surgical mask producer says it's ramping up to meet demand and expects a shortage of masks. But their real value seems to be in keeping people who are already ill from spreading the virus, rather than protecting healthy people, experts ...

There had been no confirmed deaths in the United States related to swine flu as of Tuesday afternoon. But another virus had killed thousands of people since January and is expected to keep killing hundreds of people every week for the rest of the year. That one The regular flu. An outbreak of swine flu that is suspected in more than 150 deaths in Mexico and has sickened dozens of people in the United States and elsewhere has grabbed the ...

Predicting the path of a swine flu outbreak is next to impossible, public health officials say. But Dr. Ira Longini has spent more than three decades trying to do just that. And Longini says the apparent new strain of swine flu appears to be here to stay. "We are probably going to have to live with this virus for some time," he told CNN. Longini specializes in the mathematical and statistical theory of epidemics. He works at the Vaccine and ...

The outbreak of swine flu, which appears to have originated in Mexico, has crossed borders and datelines, spooked the travel industry -- and thrown up some unfamiliar and uncertain terminology. Just what is the World Health Organization, based in Geneva, Switzerland How does it differ from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, based in Atlanta, Georgia What is the difference between an infectious disease and a contagious disease Or between being held in quarantine and being held in isolation ...

The first case of swine flu in Europe was confirmed Monday in Spain as a top European health official warned against travel to Mexico and the United States. Spanish health minister Trinidad Jimenez said a 23-year-old man who returned from studying in Mexico last Wednesday tested positive for the virus at a hospital in Albacete, southeastern Spain. At least 16 more cases are being treated as possible swine flu, Jimenez told a news conference. Earlier, Jimenez met with health officials ...

Concern that the world could be on the brink of the first influenza pandemic in more than 40 years escalated Sunday as France, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Spain reported potential new cases in which people had been infected with swine flu and Canada confirmed several new cases. In the U.S., where 20 such infections have been confirmed, federal health officials declared a public-health emergency and are preparing to distribute to state and local agenciesa quarter of the country's 50 ...

As reports of swine flu continue to rise in the United States and around the world, the average American is probably asking, "How should I protect myself?" And the answer is: Do what you'd do in other flu outbreaks. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is advising people to "take the ordinary steps they would take to protect themselves: frequent hand washing, and making sure you cover your nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing." By midday Sunday, there ...

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed cases of swine flu in eight students at a New York preparatory school, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Sunday. The students have had only mild symptoms and none have been hospitalized, he said. Some of the students have already recovered. More than 100 students were absent from school due to flu-like symptoms last week. New York health officials tested samples for eight students Saturday and determined the students were probably suffering from ...