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I'm a little worn out. You can only refresh the CNN, BBC, and other news websites so many times before your nerves are shot and every little twinge in your body becomes the swine flu.

As of this morning, there are 152 deaths in Mexico and 90 cases confirmed around the world. I don't want to rehash the facts -- I'm sure you're all checking yourselves -- but that's pretty much all I'm thinking about right now.

They closed the local schools for the next two weeks, and Ibis said that the pharmacies were running out of masks last night. He had to drive to several places and finally found a veterinarian who was selling them. He said the line for masks resembled the line for tortillas, which if you've ever been to Mexico, you know it can get quite long.

I haven't left the house since yesterday morning so I can't report more than that, but I'll need to go to the store in another couple days so I can tell you more then.

I also want to address something I said in my initial post yesterday. I commented about the cases of diarrhea here in Zihuatanejo and speculated that those could be the swine flu. Someone sent me a note that gastrointestinal diseases and viruses like the flu are not related. I wasn't trying to say that they are -- I was merely wondering if the diagnosis was wrong and that those people actually had the flu.