Obama says government preparing for swine flu outbreak, all should consider getting vaccine

September 10th, 2009 Vical's swine flu vaccine works in mice, rabbitsSAN DIEGO — Biotechnology company Vical Inc. said Thursday its developing swine flu vaccine prompted "robust" immune responses in 100 percent of animals infected with distinct strains of the virus.

August 6th, 2009 WHO: Swine flu vaccine on trackLONDON — Swine flu vaccine manufacturers are on track to start delivering the first batches of it in September, the World Health Organization said Thursday. Marie-Paule Kieny, WHO's vaccine director, said several drug makers have started testing swine flu vaccine in humans, and that early safety results should be available next month, clearing the way for its use.

August 4th, 2009 Glaxo: 9 more countries order swine flu vaccineLONDON — Drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline says that nine additional countries have ordered 96 million doses of swine flu vaccine since last month. That is in addition to the 195 million vaccine doses and products previously ordered by countries including Britain and the U.S., for a total of 291 million doses.

June 17th, 2009 Sanof-Aventis to give pandemic flu vaccine to WHOTRENTON, N.J. — The drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis says it will donate millions of doses of swine flu vaccine to the World Health Organization for poor countries.

June 11th, 2009 Summary Box: Pandemic declared; now what?LEVEL 6: World health authorities declared the new swine flu to be a pandemic — the first global epidemic since the Hong Kong flu of 1968. The pandemic alert status was raised to level 6, the highest possible.

May 14th, 2009 WHO meets on production of swine flu vaccineLONDON — As swine flu cases topped 6,600 worldwide, vaccine makers and other experts met Thursday at the World Health Organization in Geneva to discuss the tough decisions that must be made quickly to fight the evolving virus. Pharmaceutical companies are ready to begin making a swine flu vaccine — but as the virus constantly mutates, questions abound: How much should be produced? How will it be distributed? Who should get it? The expert group's recommendations will be passed to WHO Director-General Margaret Chan, who is expected to issue advice to vaccine manufacturers and the World Health Assembly next week.

May 2nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - Health officials in the US have said that the outbreak of the Swine Flu virus is milder than previously believed. According to a report by Fox News, New York City officials said that the swine flu still has not spread beyond a few schools, and in Mexico, the suspected origin of the outbreak, very few relatives of flu victims seem to have caught the virus.

April 30th, 2009 Definitions for swine flu pandemic phrasesSome commonly used pandemic phrases. 'Pandemic' — The global outbreak of disease.

April 30th, 2009 WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama has said that there were no plans to close the country's border with Mexico despite a growing swine flu outbreak, but assured the public that his government was doing all it could to contain the threat. Obama said late Wednesday that closing the border was 'akin to closing the barn door after the horses are out', as there were already nearly 100 cases confirmed in the US, including one death.

April 28th, 2009 White House asks lawmakers for $1.5b for fluWASHINGTON — The White House is asking Congress for $1.5 billion to fight a swine flu outbreak. President Barack Obama sent a letter to lawmakers on Tuesday, asking them for a supplemental spending plan to build drug stockpiles and monitor future cases.

April 27th, 2009 House panel to probe swine flu outbreakWASHINGTON — A House committee will hold an emergency hearing this week on increasing cases of swine flu in the United States and other countries. Health subcommittee Chairman Frank Pallone Jr., said Monday that his session will address the public's concern over a potential outbreak and make sure that government agencies are coordinating to protect people as efficiently as possible.

April 27th, 2009 Homeland chief says US preparing for full pandemicWASHINGTON — The head of the Homeland Security Department says the United States is preparing as if the swine flu outbreak is a full pandemic. Secretary Janet Napolitano told reporters Monday that the World Health Organization is operating at level three, with level six a full pandemic.

April 27th, 2009 WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama said he was closely watching an outbreak of swine flu in the US, where 20 cases have so far been identified, but urged people to remain calm. 'This is obviously a cause for concern and requires a heightened state of alert, but it's not a cause for alarm,' Obama said in a speech at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington.

April 25th, 2009 Obama health fine after trip to MexicoWASHINGTON — The White House says President Barack Obama's health is fine a little more than a week after he traveled to Mexico, where an outbreak of swine flu has killed at least 68 people and sickened more than 1,000. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Saturday that "the President’s trip to Mexico has not put his health in any danger." The top international health official says the new swine flu strain that has hit Mexico has "pandemic potential." Obama was in Mexico last week to meet with top government officials and talk about the growing problem with drug smuggling and border violence.

April 25th, 2009 Q&A: What is swine flu?GENEVA — A swine flu outbreak that appears to have caused fatalities in humans in Mexico and nonfatal cases in the United States prompted the World Health Organization this weekend to urge countries around the world to be alert for suspicious cases of influenza. WHO chief Margaret Chan says the global body is taking the outbreak very seriously, though comparisons with the 1918 epidemic are premature.