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Members of President Obama's cabinet will hold a H1N1 Flu Preparedness Summit next week to prepare for the possibility of a more severe outbreak of H1N1 flu.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Homeland Security Adviser John Brennan will host the all-day event on Thursday at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md.

The H1N1 flu virus is still circulating in the U.S. and at least 100 other countries -- especially in the Southern Hemisphere, where flu season is underway. Scientists and public health experts forecast that the impact of H1N1 could worsen once school resumes, or in the fall when the regular flu season hits.

The goal of the summit is to launch a national influenza campaign, to tailor states' existing pandemic plans, share lessons learned from previous H1N1 waves and discuss preparedness priorities.

"Prevention is everyone's business," Duncan said. "Parents, children, teachers, school leaders, communities, government and businesses, we need do our part individually and collectively prevent the spread of the flu virus."

President Obama made a surprise appearance at a Spanish-language town hall meeting on the H1N1 virus in Washington today. He told the audience that while "the virus may not have been as virulent as we at first feared," "we're not out of the woods yet and we still have to take precautions."

"Our experience with the H1N1 virus over the last couple of weeks is a sobering reminder of how vital it is that we all recognize we're all in this together," he said. "We're one country, we're one community. When one person gets sick, that has the potential of making us all sick. And when we help to make everybody well, one person well, then everybody has the potential to get well. We can’t be divided by communities."

The president urged the community leaders present to spread the word about the importance of "washing your hands, about covering your mouths, staying home if you're sick, keeping children home from school if they're sick."

The town hall was billed by the White House as an opportunity to "listen to the community’s concerns and inform the public about the government’s efforts to control the impact of the H1N1 virus." Among those present were Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis and experts from the Department of Homeland Security and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Despite the fact that the town hall was in Spanish, the only two words spoken by the president in the language were “muchas gracias.”

“I’m very proud of this first White House town hall meeting conducted entirely in Spanish...except for my part,” he quipped, prompting laughter from the audience. “I’m kind of messing up the whole thing.”

Vice President Joe Biden may represent a bigger threat to the transportation industry than a double billing of "Alive," a 1993 movie about a plane crash that forces Uruguayan Rugby players to resort to cannibalism, and "Speed," the 1994 flick that had Keanu Reeves racing to diffuse a bomb on a Los Angeles bus.

Transportation officials around the country found themselves scrambling this week to reassure worried commuters in the wake of Biden's controversial comments Thursday on NBC's "Today Show" that he has told loved ones to avoid subways and planes. Appearing on the morning program, Biden said, "I would tell members of my family - and I have - that I wouldn't go anywhere in confined places now."

The airplane industry and the people responsible for running the country's network of buses and trains were not, to say the least, amused by Biden's impolitic advice.

"Of course, people should practice good personal hygiene habits and stay at home if they are sick as [President Obama] advised, but life must go on," Paul Flaningan, spokesman for Southwest Airlines Co. said, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle. "Air travel has a vital role in our economy, which could use all the help it can get."

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's top flu specialist has privately informed health care officials that the H1N1 virus is becoming a more serious threat, CBSNews.com has learned.

"We're now certainly starting to pick up more serious cases," Dr. Joe Bresee, chief of CDC's epidemiology and prevention branch of the influenza division, told health care providers on Thursday.

Bresee said on a private conference call that the situation is now "changing a bit," adding that H1N1's incubation period is between one and four days, and its infectious period is similar to seasonal flu at two to seven days.

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