COBDEN - Jorge Mendez and Mario Resendez have kept in touch with friends in their hometown of Brownsville, Texas, since arriving here Monday at a migrant camp to work in the orchards this summer.

"We heard about the swine flu scare going on in Mexico. It's kind of scary. We don't know what to think of it," Mendez said about the outbreak that has prompted the World Health Organization to raise its global alert level on the spreading swine flu virus that is believed to have killed more than 150 people in Mexico.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials reported late Tuesday afternoon the U.S. has 68 confirmed cases in five states, with 45 in New York, one in Ohio, one in Indiana, two in Kansas, six in Texas and 13 in California.

Brownsville is located along the Texas-Mexico border directly across from Matamoros, Mexico. Mendez, who is a nursing student at the University of Texas at Brownsville, said he found out two cases of people who may have contracted the virus are under investigation at McAllen Medical Center, located near Brownsville.

"Health care officials don't know enough about the strain. They are a few months away from making a vaccine," Mendez said, noting he is hearing reports from his hometown the Texas border may be closed soon.

Resendez said he was given a mask to wear when he entered a Brownsville municipal building to get a copy of his birth certificate a few days earlier.

Both young men said they were not worried about being restricted to remain in their Texas border town before setting out this week for Illinois.

But, some local officials were keeping their ears open to any special instructions from health officials at the federal and state levels about preventative means to reduce contraction of the newly discovered virus.

Union County Emergency Services Coordinator Dana Pearson made inquiries to find out if migrant workers would be arriving here directly from Mexico in another month or so when orchard work moves into full swing.

Fidel Bartolo, who helps oversee maintenance and other duties at the migrant camp, said he couldn't answer Pearson's inquiries, because he has not received further word as to who would arrive here and when.

Patricia Sawyer, a case management supervisor for the southern/southwest region of the Illinois Migrant Council said she had not received instructions about changing any procedure of migrants arriving here for work this summer.

"Our case load is not very large right now," Sawyer said.

Cheryl Manus, director of nursing for the Southern Seven Health Department that serves counties in this region of the state, said the state Department of Health has sent no guidance or special precautions other than standard practices to prevent contracting the flu, such as washing hands and covering coughs and sneezes with a tissue.

Sawyer and Ren Sirles of Rendleman Orchards said many of the migrant workers in Southern Illinois have lived here for many months and years. Crossing the border or returning to Mexico is not common, Rendleman said.

scott.fitzgerald@thesouthern.com

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