Archeologist Who Greeted Obama in Mexico City, “Died the Following Day from Symptoms Similar to Flu” (Update: This Story is Bullshit)
April 26th, 2009Update: Archaeologist’s Family Refutes Obama Swine Flu Rumor
Via: Houston Chronicle:
Was President Barack Obama infected with Mexico’s swine flu? No, the White House has said repeatedly since Saturday.
Obama visited Mexico City on April 16 and 17, three days after the first case of swine flu was confirmed in Mexico.
Mexican newspapers reported last Saturday that a prominent archaeologist who gave the U.S. president an April 16 tour of Mexico City’s famous anthropology museum fell ill with flu a day later and died of it last week.
A Houston Chronicle reporter tracked down family members of the late archaeologist, Felipe Solis, at their home not far from the museum. The man neither had the flu nor died of it, a family spokesman said.
“It’s absolutely false,” said Julio Castejon, adding that Olis died of a heart attack linked to chronic diabetes and other ailments. “They found no evidence of influenza. This is yellow journalism.”
Obama has been “never in any danger” from Mexico’s swine flu, Robert Gibbs, the White House’s spokesman said again today. The president has called for calm as the number U.S. cases rose today to 40, none fatal and only one requiring hospitalization.
—End Update—
Via: Bloomberg:
Mexican President Felipe Calderon declared an emergency in his country’s swine flu outbreak, giving him powers to order quarantines and suspend public events.
Authorities have canceled school at all levels in Mexico City and the state of Mexico until further notice, and the government has shut most public and government activities in the area. The emergency decree, published today in the state gazette, gives the president authority to take more action.
“The federal government under my charge will not hesitate a moment to take all, all the measures necessary to respond with efficiency and opportunity to this respiratory epidemic,” Calderon said today during a speech to inaugurate a hospital in the southern state of Oaxaca.
At least 20 deaths in Mexico from the disease are confirmed, Health Minister Jose Cordova said yesterday. The strain is a variant of H1N1 swine influenza that has also sickened at least eight people in California and Texas. As many as 68 deaths may be attributed to the virus in Mexico, and about 1,000 people in the Mexico City area are showing symptoms of the illness, Cordoba said.
Obama’s Visit
The first case was seen in Mexico on April 13. The outbreak coincided with the President Barack Obama’s trip to Mexico City on April 16. Obama was received at Mexico’s anthropology museum in Mexico City by Felipe Solis, a distinguished archeologist who died the following day from symptoms similar to flu, Reforma newspaper reported. The newspaper didn’t confirm if Solis had swine flu or not.
The Mexican government is distributing breathing masks to curtail the disease’s spread. There is no vaccine against the new strain of swine flu, health authorities said.
Museums, theaters and other venues in the Mexico City area, where large crowds gather, have shut down voluntarily and concerts and other events canceled to help contain the disease. Two professional soccer games will be played tomorrow in different Mexico City stadiums without any fans, El Universal newspaper reported. Catholic masses will be held, the newspaper said, although church officials urged worshipers to wear breath masks and to avoid contact.
Schools will likely remain closed next week, Calderon said in the Oaxaca speech. The decree allows Calderon to regulate transportation, enter any home or building for inspection, order quarantines and assign any task to all federal, state and local authorities as well as health professionals to combat the disease.
“The health of Mexicans is a cause that we’re defending with unity and responsibility,” Calderon said. “I know that although it’s a grave problem, a serious problem, we’re going to overcome it.”
Normal Airport Operations
Mexico City’s international airport, which handles about 70,000 passengers each day, is operating normally, said Victor Mejia, a spokesman. Passengers are given a questionnaire asking if they have flu symptoms and recommending they cancel their trip and see a doctor if they do. The measures are voluntary, Mejia said, and no case of swine flu in airport passengers, workers or visitors has been confirmed.
Authorities throughout Central America have issued alerts to prevent the outbreak from spreading. Guatemala ordered tighter control yesterday of its northern border with Mexico, according to EFE. Gerberth Morales, who’s heading the Guatemala government’s response, said no cases of swine flu have been reported in his country, the Spanish news agency reported.
Brazil is intensifying vigilance in ports, airports and borders to check travelers’ health, luggage, aircrafts and ships in a preventive action against the outbreak in Mexico, the Agency for Sanitary Vigilance said on its Web site.
More: Obama’s Health Fine After Trip to Mexico
Research Credit: ottilie
In other words, we can get you with our bioweapons at any time, so do as we say or else.
Oh, this was a great quote. “… no case of swine flu in airport passengers, workers or visitors has been confirmed.”
I joke with people about getting “airplane sick”. You’e exposed to people from all over the place when you fly. Symptoms don’t usually show up until a few days later. How many people are going to say “Oh, I must have gotten sick from flying through (name an airport).”? Really, you never know why you caught something. Was it someone on the flight before, and the germs were lingering? Did you use the same bathroom, eat at the same table in the airport, or even catch something in a cab? There’s no way to know.
I used to fly a lot, so my instances of getting sick from it went way down, since I was frequently exposed to the common stuff going around. People who don’t fly very often are more likely to get sick. Hell, if you haven’t flown in a few years, you’re almost guaranteed to get sick after you get home. Last time I got sick from flying, I had full fledged fluid in my lungs pneumonia. If it was any worse, I would have been hospitalized. Actually, it was an option, but I told the doctor to do what he could. I was only willing to be hospitalized if it got any worse. I guess getting exhausted from walking across the bedroom was pretty bad, but I don’t like being in hospitals.
I’m sure my report of “I got sick.” never made it to any sort of central authority (like the CDC) that associated it with my recent flight.
Tracking things like this can be tricky. so I got sick. If I got anyone else sick, they may not know that I was on an airplane, much less what flights, cities, cabs, etc. At least I try to stay home and not infect anyone else when I’m sick. Too bad modern society doesn’t hold that standard for everyone. You have to work, who cares if you’re sick. So go infect people. Infect your workers. Infect people at the stores. We’re too busy to stay away from everyone while we’re sick.
Just think about how many people you have contact with, and then raise that by several powers. If you are case #1 in an area, you could easily infect tens of thousands of people unintentionally.
This was a good scrubs episode showing a potential infection path. There was more throughout that episode.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFWC23M9mGU
Spreading infectious diseases is good for the economy.
ltcolonelnemo, at least it’s good for pruning down the populations that can’t afford health care. When you prune down the poor, then there are less poor to deal with.
It’s a fine and dandy plan, unless you’re poor. Or when you realize that the lower income classes actually do the manual labor that the higher income classes aren’t willing to do. Or, when the income classes lower than you are gone, and suddenly you find that you are the poor that is being eliminated.
According to what I’ve been reading, the fall out of the new flu in Mexico is vastly different from that in the U.S. In Mexico, it has been very deadly. In the U.S. it has not been deadly.
Read this: New U.S. swine flu cases spread pandemic fears
Now, imagine this.
How could one develop a flu that would kill one population and not kill another population, assuming the flu could cross borders without any trouble? It might not be very hard to do.
Manufacture two very similar variations on the same basic flu such that one is more lethal than the other while an immunity to one provides and immunity to the other. Release the more deadly version in the targeted area and the less deadly version in the area you wish to protect. Make sure to release both versions simultaneously. By the time the lethal version reaches the protected area, the less lethal version would have already spread amongst the protected population. The protected population will have developed an immunity to the deadly version just before the deadly version arrives. The effect would be a much higher death rate in one region and a lower death rate in another.
Missing link for above comment…
Read this: New U.S. swine flu cases spread pandemic fears
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30398682/