Outbreaks of swine flu continued to be confirmed around the world Tuesday, with new cases reported in Canada, Israel, France, New Zealand, Costa Rica and South Korea, and the White House asked Congress for an additional $1.5 billion to fight the outbreak.
President Barack Obama, in a letter to Congress, asked for the funds with "maximum flexibility to allow us to address this emerging situation."
The letter said the money could go toward stockpiling anti-viral medicine, vaccine development, disease monitoring and diagnosis, and assisting international efforts to limit its spread.
"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 is forming a swine flu task force to coordinate U.S. efforts, and she noted that the government has made 12 million doses of anti-viral drugs available to states. She said her agency is 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 67 by late Tuesday afternoon and worldwide had climbed to more than 100, not counting the still-unknown number of cases in Mexico.
At least some of the new cases appear to have risen from human-to-human transmission outside Mexico.
Such community transmission is one of the early earmarks of a pandemic. If it continues to be observed, experts said, the World Health Organization is likely to raise its alert to Phase 5, from the currently elevated Phase 4 on a scale of six. Such an increase might involve more travel restrictions and stronger efforts to control the spread of the virus.
At a Tuesday morning news conference in Geneva, Dr. Keiji Fukuda, assistant director-general of WHO, said a pandemic is not inevitable but if one does occur it is likely to be mild - a conclusion drawn from the lack of deaths outside Mexico.
But he cautioned that the 1918 Spanish flu, which killed millions worldwide, started out mild also. In the spring of that year, there was a mild pandemic that petered out, only to return with a vengeance in the fall.
"I think we have to be mindful and respectful of the fact that influenza moves in ways we cannot predict," he said.
