When it comes to fears of a global swine flu pandemic, Yamhill County's public health officials are basically in the same boat you are. They're engaged in watchful waiting.

"The mode of operation right now is surveillance, just trying to keep track of it," said Dr. Robert Moore.

As of Wednesday morning, no cases had been reported in Oregon. However, 64 cases have been documented elsewhere in the United States, seven patients hospitalized and a federal health official's earlier prediction that deaths were likely has been realized. A nearly 2-year-old Mexican boy who died Monday in a Houston hospital is the first confirmed U.S. death from swine flu.

Health scares have become fairly common in recent years.

West Nile virus stirred fears in 2001, and SARS, emerging from China's Guangdong Province, renewed them in 2002. Lyme disease and avian flu have also raised alarm at times.

But the latest flu strain, reportedly originating in hard-hit Mexico, has officials considerably more worried.

"Avian flu is from birds," said Doug McGillivray, emergency manager for Yamhill County. "A person can catch it from a bird. In this case, the disease is being transmitted from human to human, and that compounds the concern exponentially."

The influenza virus causes annual winter outbreaks of a respiratory illness characterized by fever, cough, muscle aches and malaise. Typically, there's time to prepare a seasonal vaccine, made available as winter approaches, and relatively few people catch it.

Most recover, though the U.S. Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta says up to 36,000 Americans die of the flu or its complications each year, primarily those at the extreme ends of the age spectrum.

The latest bug has reportedly killed more than 80 people in Mexico and sickened hundreds more. It has spread to at least six other countries so far, prompting the World Health Organization to raise its alert level Monday to Phase 4.

The virus has already shown up in California and New York. In New York, it spread through a Catholic school in Queens following a spring break trip to Mexico.

However, no cases have yet been reported in the Pacific Northwest.

Though being termed a form of swine flu, it appears to combine elements of the swine, avian and human viruses, according to the CDC.

The new strain seems to be striking with special ferocity in Mexico, and officials aren't yet sure why.

The symptoms are the same as other forms of influenza, according to Dr. Mel Kohn, Oregon's public health director. He said residents with such symptoms are being tested for the strain.

Officials say the latest round of routine flu vaccinations, tailored for other strains, offer little if any protection against the swine flu strain. The best defense against becoming infected or infecting others, they say, is washing your hands frequently, covering your mouth when you cough, preferably with a tissue, and seeing your doctor promptly if you fall ill.

Locally, McGillivray said, "The important thing that we're hearing from all fronts, from the state to the federal, is just wash your hands.

"I mean, repeatedly. That's how important it is."

McGillivray said public health workers are keeping the lines of communication open with hospitals, schools and other community partners. He said Oregon has a pandemic response plan in place, should the strain spread into the state.

"This is the kind of situation we've been planning for," agreed Public Health Officer Sarah Bates. "We're doing what we need to do."

Coincidentally, the county has a previously planned emergency drill scheduled Friday at Linfield College.

Don't panic if you're on campus that day and you see health officers walking around in protective face masks. It's a drill, not the real deal.

- The Associated Press contributed to this report.