Citing concerns about the swine flu outbreak, Mexican artist Humberto Ramos has canceled his planned appearance this weekend at Comicpalooza in Houston.

"Fortunately me and my family and friends [...] are all alright," Ramos wrote this morning on his blog, "but this is a more important reason to remain alert and precocious. Avoiding places where [there] is a big concentration of people is one the main warnings we got from day one of the outbreak, so being in a plane or the airport is not the best place to be right now."

Ramos, who recently wrapped up a run on Marvel's Runaways, notes that while he and his family haven't been affected by the virus, he prefers to remain close to home for the moment.

There have been 99 confirmed cases of swine flu in Mexico, with eight confirmed deaths. On Wednesday the Centers for Disease Control reported 91 confirmed cases in the United States, up from 64 the day before. The U.S. also saw its first death from the virus: a 23-month-old child from Mexico who was being treated in Houston.

Concerns about the epidemic led 20th Century Fox to cancel the premiere of X-Men Origins: Wolverine in Mexico City, where theaters have closed to help stem the spread of the virus.