Obama to speak about flu outbreak

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By Sean Lengell

"While we continue gathering information and working hard to prepare for wide-scale emergency, we do not have a clear picture of the problem at this time," the senators said.

People legally traveling to the United States from Mexico will be allowed entry provided that they don't show symptoms of the flu virus, Ms. Napolitano said at the White House news conference. Travelers who do exhibit symptoms of the virus will be quarantined.

"We have implemented passive surveillance protocols to screen individuals who may arrive at our borders," she said.

The U.S. government has implemented no travel restrictions to Mexico, although the CDC has posted travel warnings on its Web site regarding the flu outbreak.

"We're going to continue to evaluate the situation in Mexico and if need be we will increase the warnings based on what the situation warrants," Dr. Besser said.

Elsewhere around the world, six confirmed cases surfaced in Canada. Some of those infected were students who began to feel sick while in Mexico.

Brazil said it is observing some suspected cases. New Zealand said swine flu had sickened as many as 13 students who took school trips to Mexico. Spain reported its first confirmed swine flu case on Monday and said another 17 people were suspected of having the disease.

World Health Organization spokesman Peter Cordingley said the new virus is raising fears of a global pandemic.

"These are early days [but] it's quite clear that there is a potential for this virus to become a pandemic and threaten globally," he told AP Television News. "But we honestly don't know. We don't know enough yet about how this virus operates. More work needs to be done."

The European Union health commissioner advised Europeans to avoid nonessential travel to Mexico and the United States. And similar organizations around the world are planning such advisories.