United States declares health emergency due to swine flu

Per The New York Times, the U.S. Department of Health has declared a public health emergency as 20 cases of swine flu have been confirmed within the United States' borders. Cases have been found in New York, California, Texas, Kansas and Ohio.

Some American Twitterers were unsure about the decision for the declaration.

1. 
   AmperInstitute (USA) 20 people out of 300 million is NOT a public health emergency, it's just 20 people with shitty luck 26 Apr 2009 from web
2. 
   MeghanJG (Washington, D.C.) Swine flu is now a public health emergency?? How did that happen? 4 days ago no one had ever even heard of it! http://tinyurl.com/c5fuev 26 Apr 2009 from web
3. 
   lovelydress (Undisclosed) 20 people are infected with swine flu and suddently it's a public health emergency. 20 people is abt 0.000000065 percent of the population. 26 Apr 2009 from web
4. 
   downdb (Greenfield, Mass.) @dsilverman Could not agree more. People freaking out due to "public health emergency" declaration 26 Apr 2009 from tircd

Fear began to spread among some U.S. Twitterers, even though the U.S. Department of Health is urging citizens not to panic.

1. 
   KissaKatt (San Francisco, Calif.) Great, were officially in a public health emergency. I'm really getting freaked the eff out. 26 Apr 2009 from TweetDeck
2. 
   NormaPowell (Michigan) beware...US declares public health emergency for swine flu
   http://tinyurl.com/c5fuev 26 Apr 2009 from web
3. 
   sweetney (Baltimore, Md.) @TwoBusy Yeah when they start using words like "pandemic," "public health emergency" & "global quarantine plans" I start wigging out a tad. 26 Apr 2009 from TweetDeck in reply to TwoBusy
4. 
   HawaiiRealty (Honolulu, Hawaii) WOW U.S Declares Public Health Emergency over Swine Flu http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/27/world/27flu.html?_r=1&hp prayers to all 26 Apr 2009 from TweetDeck

United States declares health emergency due to swine flu