WH aide: Biden was advising caution

WASHINGTON, April 30 (UPI) -- U.S. Vice President Joe Biden wasn't spreading fear when he discussed precautions in the face of the H1N1 flu outbreak, a White House spokesman said Thursday.

During an interview on NBC's "Today Show," Biden said he would offer family members who want to travel to Mexico the same advice the administration has been giving all Americans since the outbreak began: Avoid unnecessary travel Mexico, the epicenter for the outbreak. He also said he would recommend avoiding travel in confined quarters, which touched off a furor in the travel industry, which expressed disappointment in the remarks.

"Well, I think what the vice president meant to say was the same thing that many members have said in the last few days," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said during a media briefing. "And that is if you feel sick, if you are exhibiting flu-like symptoms -- coughing, sneezing, runny nose -- that you should take precautions, that you should limit your travel ... ."

If someone became "unduly alarmed" over Biden's remarks, "we would apologize for that," Gibbs said. "And I hope that my remarks and remarks of people at (Centers for Disease Control) and (Homeland Security) Secretary (Janet) Napolitano have appropriately cleared up what he meant to say."

Biden also said on the "Today Show" that President Barack Obama's decision not to close the U.S.-Mexican border to contain the H1N1 virus was based on experts' recommendations.

"(We) have contacted and been in constant contact with the leading health experts, both in the world as well as here in the United States, and they have suggested that that is not the way we should move," Biden said.

Instead, experts recommended the country "deal with mitigation, and that is the circumstances where large crowds of people, whether they're in school rooms or in soccer stadiums or in malls, or whatever, where the flu is transmitted," Biden said.