What happens when 2.5 million Muslims gather in one place?

The scene at hajj, which this year could be a swine flu petri dish. (Image by AFP/Getty Images via Daylife)

I gave you the inside scoop earlier this week on my wife’s trip to western Saudi Arabia for NPR. Among other things, Kelly was tracking down the impact of swine flu on hajj, the annual pilgrimage by Muslims to two of Islam’s holiest sites.

Check out the story, which ran last night on All Things Considered.

Anxious health officials in Saudi Arabia say that for the first time in recorded history, a global pandemic could affect the hajj, the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca. The H1N1 virus is a major concern for authorities in Saudi Arabia, who are gearing up to host some 2.5 million Muslim pilgrims from 160 countries later this month.

Muslims from around the world have been coming to Saudi Arabia for hajj for more than a millennium. It’s one of the five pillars of Islam. Every Muslim who is able is supposed to make the journey to Mecca at least once in a lifetime.

Note the two “standups,” when Kelly speaks directly and casually into the tape as she’s on the scene, first at the Jeddah airport’s Hajj terminal and later at a gas station, where she talks to pilgrims from Bangladesh. She couldn’t have done any of it without Power Horse.

via Flu Threat Looms As Mecca Readies For Pilgrims : NPR.