David J. Phillip / AP Photo
The United States has suffered its first death from swine flu: The Associated Press reports that a 23-month-year-old infant in Texas has passed away from the virus. Meanwhile, the U.S. is beginning to mobilize all its resources to combat the virus. A second school in New York City has been closed after dozens of students came down with the illness, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared a state of emergency in California. President Obama has requested $1.5 billion in aid to combat the virus out of “an abundance of caution.” Richard Besser, the acting director of the CDC, was not exactly a beacon of optimism today, saying: “I fully expect we will see deaths from this infection.” He added, “I think we need to be prepared that even if it starts to look a little better, it may get a little worse.”