By Drew Armstrong and John Reichard CQ Staff
The global swine flu outbreak drew a swift congressional response Monday when a House subcommittee announced an April 30 emergency" hearing on the matter.
This hearing will address the publics concern over the potential outbreak of swine flu to the broader U.S. population and ensure that all the agencies responsible for protecting the publics health are coordinating appropriately with all due diligence to avert a potential disaster" said Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee Chairman Frank Pallone Jr. D-N.J. in a statement.
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee scheduled its own hearing on the matter for Wednesday; Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is set to testify.
Other lawmakers so far seem confident that federal and state agencies are taking appropriate steps to deal with the outbreak.
I think right now its about monitoring and making people aware so they can take action if there are problems" said Sen. Debbie Stabenow D-Mich. It appears theyre on top of things very quickly and moving very quickly on this."
Ive asked our staffs to be briefed immediately by the appropriate agencies" said Sen. Christopher J. Dodd D-Conn. Theres a lot of coordination already."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta is tracking the outbreak in the United States while the World Health Organization is coordinating global efforts.
So far 40 cases have been confirmed in the United States though none have died with more around the globe. The bulk of the cases and deaths have been located in Mexico.
The only severe cases we have seen are in Mexico" said WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl.
The Obama administration has urged people to remain calm while the CDC tracks the outbreak.
And this is obviously a cause for concern and requires a heightened state of alert. But its not a cause for alarm" President Obama said in a speech to the National Academy of Sciences annual meeting.
The outbreak could put pressure on the Senate to confirm several top administration health appointees who have yet to get a vote. Health and Human Services nominee Gov. Kathleen Sebelius is scheduled for a vote Tuesday but Republican have grown increasingly opposed to her nomination because of her support by a Kansas doctor who performs abortions. Democrats are confident they have the 60 votes needed for confirmation.
The administration has yet to nominate a CDC director. Dr. Richard Besser is serving as acting director.
The flu which originated in pigs and was first noticed in Mexico appears to be communicable between humans. According to the CDC it cannot be transmitted by eating pork products. The CDC recommends frequent hand washing seeing a doctor if people are feeling flu-like symptoms and avoiding contact with others while sick.
The WHO moved up to Monday an emergency meeting originally scheduled for Tuesday to consider whether to change the current threat level of pandemic flu. Hartl said the level may be changed to level four or level five up from the current level three. The current level which reflects the threat posed by avian flu is one characterized mainly by animal infections but relatively few human infections.
Level four denotes that a virus once confined mainly to animals or fowl has achieved the capacity for sustained human-to-human transmission but is confined to a specific geographic area allowing for the use of a ring" strategy to confine the spread of the virus to that area through use of antiviral medications or vaccines if available.
Level five is characterized by human to human spread in at least two countries in the same general region of the world and is considered a strong signal that pandemic is imminent" according to the WHO rating system. Level six denotes a pandemic in which there are outbreaks in multiple regions of the world.
Rob Margetta contributed to this story.
