Swine flu is spreading and the latest media stories reveal some reported cases in Middle East, Canada, France, Costa Rica and South Korea. In response to the severity of the epidemic, President Barack Obama has asked Congress for funds, about $1.5 billion, coupled with "maximum flexibility to allow us to address this emerging situation."

Whats worse, medical investigations reveal that the virus is jumping borders via flights and this is cause of concern given the number of passengers that travel either for tourist, personal or business reasons. One way business people can stem the spread of the killer virus is by hosting tele and video conferencing through broadband technologies.

Teleconferencing allows people from different outlying regions to participate in a meeting by telephone without having to meet. Video conferencing goes the extra mile by allowing the particpants in a conference to actual see each other on video screens.

It is quite easy to leverage the existing technology and have effective meetings that will enable the business executives to save travel and related expenses, save productivity time and protect themselves from such deadly epidemics as bird flu.