Swine flu is spreading. The World Health Organisation has raised its pandemic status to level 4 (see Nature’s Briefing: Swine flu jumps continents, and the Swine Flu special).

The H1N1 virus has already appeared in North America and Europe. Now it appears to have reached Israel, where the BBC reports that Israel’s deputy Health Minister Yakov Litzman “said the outbreak should be renamed “Mexican flu” in deference to Jewish and Muslim sensitivities over pork”.

Share prices have been sent haywire by the flu, with markets first dropping, then recovering, and probably dropping again by the time you read this. Oil prices are also down amid fears over the impact on the world’s already fragile economy and a likely drop in air travel.

Flights to Mexico are already being cancelled, with governments cautioning against “non-essential travel” to the country at the centre of the outbreak. Online pharmacies are already reporting a run on the flu drug Tamiflu.

Obama’s people have also been assailed with questions about his meeting with Felipe Solis, the Mexican archaeologist who died recently. The Mexican Ministry of Health has already denied initial reports that Solís had contracted swine flu (see: RIP Felipe Solís)

If this is all too depressing there is a slight silver line, not least if you make flu drugs or play the market. The Times business columnist Ian King writes:

Never mind drug stocks — there’s nothing like a good health scare to give speculators a shot in the arm. Accordingly, shares of the antiviral makers GlaxoSmithKline and Roche rose on the Mexican swine flu outbreak. But the virus, which has caused more than 100 deaths, created trading opportunities everywhere.

It was a day of swine and roses for anyone short of travel and tourism stocks…

And finally, Obama had the following to say: “If there was ever a day that reminded us of our shared stake in science and research, it’s today.”

Image: Getty