Swine Flu Creeping Closer to Pandemic Status

Want to have some fun? Get on an airplane and start coughing. I'll bet you get more attention than if you'd shouted "BOMB!":

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A new virus has killed up to 149 people in Mexico and the World Health Organization moved closer on Monday to declaring it the first flu pandemic in 40 years as more people were infected in the United States and Europe.

The WHO raised its pandemic alert level for the swine flu virus to phase 4, indicating a significantly increased risk of a pandemic, a global outbreak of a serious disease.

The last such outbreak, a "Hong Kong" flu pandemic in 1968, killed about 1 million people.

Although the new flu strain has so far killed people only in Mexico, there were more than 40 confirmed cases in the United States, including 20 at a New York City school where eight cases were already identified.

In Mexico City, fearful Christians paraded a centuries-old statue of Jesus, believed to protect against disease, through the streets for the first time in more than a century.

Yeah, idol worship always helps.

Then there was this addition to the story:

The swine flu is not caught from eating pig meat products, but several countries imposed import bans on pork from the United States.

You may think that's kind of silly, but Iowa Senator Charles Grassley actually sent this out on Twitter:

U can't get swine flu fr eating pork. Eatup. Regardless of epidemic.

So go ahead and have that BLT or ham sandwich. The pork producers are counting on you.