Obama: Flu May Run Its Course, but Government Is Preparing for the Worst

The swine flu might run its course "like ordinary flus" but the government is preparing for a "worst-case scenario" as a precaution, President Obama said Friday.

The president spoke to reporters after a Cabinet meeting, his second since taking office and the first for newly confirmed Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

Obama assured the public the administration continues to take the outbreak of the H1N1 virus "very seriously" and is in talks about producing a new vaccine for flu season.

"It could come back in a virulent form during the actual flu season," Obama said.

But the president noted that more than 35,000 U.S. deaths are recorded every year from seasonal flu, and he said officials don't know whether this strain will be more severe.

"It may turn out that H1N1 ... runs its course like ordinary flus, in which case we will have prepared and we won't need all these preparations," he said.

So far the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported 141 confirmed cases in 19 U.S. states, with one death. There are 331 confirmed cases worldwide.

Obama said part of the concern about this strain is that because it is new, many people will not have built up an immunity to it.