"Overreacting" is in quotes because I didn't use that word... A Monsanto public affairs person did.

Here's why...

Monsanto, which sends employees all over the world, is requiring any employee who's been to Mexico in the past week or so for business or pleasure, to stay away from the office for seven days after they get home.

Of the 4,000 Monsanto employees in the St. Louis area so far less than ten fit in that category.

Once they come back to work, they'll be checked out by medical staff on site before actually returning to their jobs.

Talk about a proactive response.

I met one of those employees today who got back from three days in Cancun on Monday afternoon. She can't go back to work until next Tuesday. She's per diem so she won't get paid, but Ginger Flores (who has no symptoms of swine flu) says she doesn't mind.

She says Monsanto (where she's worked for four years) takes workers' safety and health very seriously and she appreciates that.

The Monsanto spokesperson also told me the company is restricting global travel unless it's "business critical" as he put it.

This company is not messing around. I bet others are taking similar steps. Feel free to let me know what (if anything) your company is doing to try to prevent the flu from spreading throughout the office.

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