Borders Tighten as Swine Flu Deaths Hit 152

Debate rages over fundamental shift

(NEWSER) - Countries across the globe are divided—and it's only a matter of time. Some, including Britain and China, want to retain a special "leap second" occasionally added to the calendar to keep atomic clocks in line with the Earth's rotation. The US, France, Germany, and others, however, want to ditch the second . The matter is up for debate in Geneva today, the BBC reports, and barring an agreement among 200 countries, it could go to a vote. But "this is not a technical issue, it is more a diplomatic one," says an official with the International Telecommunication Union. More»

(NEWSER) - Continental Airlines said today it will begin cutting flights to Mexico on Monday because of the swine flu outbreak, the Houston Chronicle reports. The airline will cancel 180 of its 450 weekly flights and use smaller planes. As the number of confirmed cases in the US rose to 141 in 19 states, President Obama urged caution but said he's "optimistic that we're going to be able to manage this effectively," the Washington Post reports. More»

(NEWSER) - Mexico's top medical official told the AP that he's hopeful swine flu has begun to wane in his nation. "The fact that we have a stabilization in the daily numbers, even a drop, makes us optimistic," said Jose Angel Cordova. "We think we're on the right track." An official from the World Health Organization, however, cautioned that fluctuations are normal and that it's far too early to celebrate. In the US, meanwhile, the number of cases confirmed by the CDC rose slightly to 114 in 12 states, notes the New York Times. More»

(NEWSER) - Swine flu continued its steady spread across the world, with federal officials warning to expect deaths in the US, the New York Times reports. The disease has been confirmed in seven countries and in five US states, but the only deaths—more than 150 so far—remain in Mexico. Five of the 68 confirmed US cases have required hospitalization. President Obama, meanwhile, has asked Congress for $1.5 billion in supplemental funding to fight the disease. More»

(AP) - Fear of swine flu is a good reason to wash your hands, but not to take pork off the menu. Federal health officials say the virus that has triggered fears of a flu pandemic is not transmitted by food, and that all food-borne germs are killed when pork is cooked to the recommended internal temperature of 160 degrees F. There also is no evidence so far that American pigs are infected with the virus. More»