The spokeswoman for Houston's Department of Health and Human Services, Kathy Barton, told the Houston Chronicle a few details about the child who succumbed to the flu, marking the first death in the United States from the H1N1 virus. It was revealed that the child was from Mexico, had become ill in Brownsville, Texas, and was transported to Houston for treatment. The child died Monday in an unidentified Houston hospital. There have been no reported Houston-area cases of the disease, so far. It's the first death outside of Mexico, where the outbreak first began. And out of the 65 confirmed cases of swine flu in the U.S., most of them are mild. The CDC still has to release more details, but for we go to Dr. Susan Fisher-Hoch. She's a former CDC staffer, an epidemiologist at University of Texas School of Public Health, and co-author of the book, Level 4: Virus Hunters of the CDC.

The first death from swine flu outside of Mexico occurred this morning in the United States when a toddler died from the flu. The flu is spreading across the globe. Germany confirmed three cases of swine flu on Wednesday, becoming the third European country hit by the disease. New Zealand's swine flu total rose to 14 and there are reported cases in Scotland, Spain, France, and Israel. To put this in perspective, we return to epidemiologist Dr. Richard Wenzel, who is Chairman of the Department of Internal Medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University.

The outbreak of swine flu is spreading across the globe, with cases confirmed from Mexico to Israel to New Zealand. Fears of a pandemic have prompted many nations, including ours, to ramp up security at land and air border crossings. As with any crisis involving national security, officials are considering all sorts of new technology to solve the problem. In Malaysia and Thailand, they're using high-tech thermal scanners to scan for swine flu. You pass through one at an airport, and it can determine if you’ve got a fever. So what technology are we using here at home? And is this going to help curb the spread of the flu? To help us answer these questions, The Takeaway is joined by Guy Martin, Senior Correspondent for Security for Conde Nast Traveller.

What to name the flu that is raising alarms across the globe is becoming a complex issue. See, pork producers object to use of the name "swine flu", particularly in light of the fact that the virus has not been conclusively found in pigs and seems to include DNA of the human and avian flu. But calling the bug "Mexican flu" or "North American influenza" irks others, despite falling in with a long medical tradition of naming bugs after the regions where they were first found. Janet Napolitano, the secretary of homeland security, seems determined to call it the "H1N1 virus," which doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. To talk us through the global challenge of naming the flu is Keith Bradsher of the New York Times.

For more, read Keith Bradsher's article, The Naming of Swine Flu, a Curious Matter in the New York Times.

The Center for Disease Control has just confirmed the first swine flu-related death in the United States. Despite the CDC's warning that deaths would occur in the United States, the news is still shocking. For how, or if, this death changes the discussion, we turn to Dr. Susan P. Fisher-Hoch, a former CDC staffer, now an epidemiologist at the University of Texas School of Public Health and co-author of the book, Level 4: Virus Hunters of the CDC.

The world has found a new strain of flu, so now what? Enter the virus hunters. This pack of epidemiologists, virologists, and infectious disease experts (sounds like a fun party) are fast on the bug's tail, looking for answers that may help us control its spread. What are they trying to figure out? How long will it take to rustle up some answers? And when you're an epidemiologist chasing down a flu virus, what do you do in your lab all day? The Takeaway is joined by Dr. Susan P. Fisher-Hoch, an epidemiologist at the University of Texas School of Public Health and co-author of the book, Level 4: Virus Hunters of the CDC. ,br/>

Swine flu is continuing it's spread around the globe, and there's one word on everyone's lips: vaccine. Can researchers create a vaccine that will stop the virus with one quick jab of a needle? How quickly can a vaccine be created? And what can we do to prevent the spread of the flu before a vaccine is created? Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, explains.

We were lucky enough to be able to nab Dr. Fauci by phone before he heads to Capitol Hill this afternoon, where he will testify at an emergency Senate meeting about the federal government's response to swine flu.

For more from Dr. Fauci, read his commentary on MSNBC.com, Why there is no AIDS vaccine.

The last few days we've been inundated with numbers and swine flu facts. Eighty deaths in Mexico jumped to 100. Twenty sickened school children in Queens became 40. We know that pork's fine to eat, and that we might not want to travel south of border. But what about some of the contextual facts — are people getting sicker more quickly in this outbreak than they have in others? Will border security stations really help? Here to answer the Big Picture questions is Dr. Richard Wenzel, The Takeaway's go-to swine flu epidemiologist.
Miss President Obama's speech regarding swine flu? Watch it here: