Excelsior , a major Mexico City Daily, a report in Spanish; my rough and ready translation follows between paragraphs. Via, a major Mexico City Daily, a report in Spanish; my rough and ready translation follows between paragraphs. Pide SSA calma ante casos de influenza . [Health department calls for calm in face of influenza.]

Tras reconocer que la influenza ya se constituyó como un brote epidémico, pero no llega a categoría de pandemia, el secretario de Salud, José Ángel Córdova, admitió que aún no tiene los datos de muertes a nivel nacional, pero que esta enfermedad infecto-contagiosa apenas ha afectado a siete estados del país.

[After saying that the influenza is now an epidemic outbreak, but not a pandemic, Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova admitted that he still doesn't have mortality statistics for the nation, but says this contagious disease has affected at least 7 states in the country.]

El funcionario se comprometió a mantener la alerta preventiva en todo México el tiempo que sea necesario hasta que el número de casos de influenza se atenúe diametralmente. Ratificó que en menos de un mes perecieron 20 personas por este mal y desmintió los datos del IMSS sobre el particular, porque las 22 muertes detectadas el fin de semana fueron causadas por males respiratorios, pero no necesariamente por influenza.

[The secretary promised to maintain a nationwide preventive alert until the number of flu cases drops sharply. He confirmed that in less than a month, 20 persons perished from this illness and contradicted the IMSS data because the 22 detected deaths on the weekend were caused by respiratory diseases, but not necessarily by influenza.]

What a strange day: A new flu in Mexico, a new flu in the US, a probable H5N1 death in Indonesia, and another H5N1 death in Egypt.