The Story From Mexico: Influenza Porcina Spreads

Without being there, there may be no better way for most of us outside of Mexico to understand the reaction to the influenza epidemic in Mexico than by reading current Spanish-language news accounts from that country. Fortunately, the Spanish of many of the accounts is relatively straightforward — the Spanish words related to medical issues are frequently English cognates, as our new list of flu-related words shows. Following are links to some the more interesting recent Spanish-language news accounts. Since many of these links are likely to become outdated, I have also included links to the home page of the publication, which can also be used to find more recent stories. Summaries given below are translations of the original headlines.

• Public health emergency in the U.S. (La Jornada)
• Number of deaths grows by dozens, reaches 103 (Excelsior)
• Accounting of swine flu throughout the world (Univision)
• Epidemic will reduce business activity in Mexico City (El Universal)
• Mexican stock market falls 3.54 percent due to pig virus (El Universal)
• U.S. rules out, for the time being, closing its border with Mexico (El Universal)
• School activities suspended as a prudent and preventive measure (President of Mexico)
• Mexico City paralyzed by flu; U.S. on alert (La Jornada)
• Nicaragua prepares to ward off swine flu (La Jornada)
• Spain recommends not traveling to Mexico (El Universal)

Photo of police in Mexico City by Sarihuella used under terms of the Creative Commons 2.0 license.