Mexican Flu strain or global outbreak?

A new type of swine flu that has spread and has already killed up to 81 people in Mexico and more than 1,300 people were being tested for suspected infection. The new flu strain is a mixture of various swine, bird and human viruses. It poses as the biggest risk of a large-scale pandemic since avian flu surfaced in 1997, killing several hundred people.
So far all the deaths so far have been in Mexico, though the flu is spreading in the United States. Eleven cases were confirmed in California, Kansas and Texas, and eight children in New York City caught a type A influenza virus that health officials say is likely to be the swine flu. In Spain and New Zealand a few people who had returned from visiting Mexico reported having flu-like symptoms.
New flu strains can spread quickly because no one has natural immunity to them and a vaccine takes months to develop; therefore the World Health Organization warned that the virus had the potential to become a pandemic and declared the flu a "public health event of international concern”. International experts will convene on Tuesday to advise the WHO whether to declare a pandemic - a global outbreak of serious disease. A global outbreak would be a major blow to the world economy which is already suffering its worst recession in decades.
The flu outbreak has become another major problem for Mexico which already has to deal with a violent drug war and economic slowdown. Mexicans huddled in their homes while U.S. hospitals tracked patients with flu symptoms and other countries imposed health checks at airports Residents of Mexico City. Millions stayed home over the weekend and worshipers were told to follow Sunday church services on television. Some residents abandoned the capital, a rambling, chaotic city. Convenience stores were open as normal on Sunday though the capital's schools were closed for 10 days and bars, restaurants, cinemas and churches shut down.
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