How Bad Is The Swine Flu?

The Plank interviews a global health expert, and Obsidian Wings features a guest post by immunization, vaccine, and bioethics directors. A dispatch from Mexico City:

...as the death toll continued to rise and health officials sounded more and terrible warnings, the tangled, bustling atmosphere of this giant city descended to a surreal stillness. Movie theaters, bars, and discos are closed. Schools have been shuttered until at least May 6. Traffic is light. A Sunday soccer match in the Azteca stadium was played to empty bleachers. The occasional jogger still passes by my window, and a few brave families can be found hanging out with their unmasked kids in the nearby park. But the strange and scary swine flu is on everyone’s mind.