Swine Flu and Pandemic Fears

2009, in Mexico, New Zealand, New York, Kansas, Texas, the UK, and now Israel, Spain, and more — swine flu is making big headlines again. Spreading. Killing in Mexico. Moving up the WHO pandemic scale, now to Phase 4 of 6.

Will it roar? Or vanish? And could a flu born in warm Mexico spread right through the summer?

This hour, On Point: The science and threat of the swine flu outbreak, 2009.

You can join the conversation. Are you double-washing your hands yet? Have you been traveling — maybe catching, or worried that you’ve caught this new virus? And what questions do you still have, after all the reporting, the calls of alarm and for calm? Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.Guests:

Joining us from Mexico City is Victor Hugo Michel, special affairs reporter for Milenio, one of the biggest national dailies in Mexico.

From San Antonio, we're joined by Don Finley, medical reporter San Antonio Express-News. He's covering the swine flu investigation in Guadalupe County.

Joining us from Atlanta is Dr. Joe Bresee, M.D., chief of epidemiology and prevention in the Influenza Branch of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

From Washington we're joined by Dr. Michael Greger, M.D., director of Public Health and Animal Agriculture at the Humane Society of the United States. An expert on animal-to-human diseases, he's author of "Bird Flu: A Virus of Our Own Hatching."

And from New York we're joined by Delthia Ricks, health reporter for Newsday and author of "100 Questions & Answers About Influenza."

More links:

The CDC website offers information on the swine flu, including questions and answers on symptoms, treatment, and prevention.