WASHINGTON, May 1 (UPI) -- Washington, D.C., and more than two dozen states are not adequately prepared if the outbreak of swine flu becomes a full-blown crisis, federal records indicate.
But President Obama, after a cabinet meeting Friday, told reporters the government is taking the outbreak seriously.
The federal effort to combat a possible pandemic includes emergency supplies of anti-viral medications, a stockpiling system now being tested as cases of the H1N1 strain of the influenza virus continue to spread.
The Centers for Disease Control reported Friday that 141 cases of the disease have been confirmed in 19 states. New York leads the way with 50 confirmed cases, followed by 28 in Texas, 16 in South Carolina and 13 in California.
There has been only one reported death in the United States.
Obama said, "It may turn out that H1N1 is -- runs its course like ordinary flus, in which case we will have prepared and we won't need all these preparations. The reason that people are concerned is -- the scientists are concerned -- is this is a new strain."
The Washington Post says 27 states and the nation's capital are 10 million dosages short of the levels that the federal government believes they should have for a pandemic. The drugs, in this case, Tamiflu and Relenza, would be used to treat the illness, not to prevent it.
Federal agencies, which under the plan are expected to create their own stockpiles, are also reported to be falling short.
