Leaders Respond to Swine Flu Pandemic on YouTube

In these early days of the swine flu outbreak, governments and global leaders are responding to the pandemic on YouTube - using video to reach citizens with information and instruction about the spreading virus. On our homepage today we're featuring some of the videos that have been making their way around YouTube, as citizens share clips with each other on how to handle the threat of the flu virus in their communities.

The Center for Disease Control's YouTube channel, which we featured a few days ago, has come out with a new video from Dr. Joe Bresee - this one outlines how to recognize the symptoms of swine flu. The Mexican Government is working hard to educate citizens as well, with PSAs like this one that help citizens understand how to prevent the spreading of the virus. In the U.K., Prime Minister Gordon Brown has been joining the international conversation, as has Ban Ki Moon, the Secretary General of the United Nations, who delivered this statement on the United Nations' YouTube channel, outlining the UN's work to fight the flu.

Stay tuned to these channels (and more) as governments and citizens keep each other informed with the latest information on the swine flu pandemic. You might also want to take a look at Google.org's experimental flu trends tool for Mexico, which is tracking the development of the flu based on search queries within Mexico.

Yours,

Olivia Ma