The swine flu virus that has frightened the world is beginning to look a little less ominous. New York City officials reported Friday that the swine flu still has not spread beyond a few schools. In Mexico, very few relatives of flu victims seem to have caught the virus.

One flu expert says there’s no reason to believe the new virus is a more serious strain than seasonal flu. And a federal health official said the new flu virus doesn’t appear to have genes that made the 1918 pandemic flu strain so deadly.

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