Word: flu
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...there are now more than 90 confirmed cases in 10 states, with the first fatality reported on Wednesday morning - a 22-month-old Mexican boy who died in Texas. In Mexico more than 150 people have died of what is suspected to be swine flu, with more than 2,400 suspected infections - though only seven deaths and 26 cases have been confirmed as swine flu in a lab. (See pictures of thermal scanners hunting for swine flu...
With the H1N1 swine flu virus seemingly entrenched in both Mexico and the U.S., and continually surfacing elsewhere, a pandemic may be inevitable - flu viruses are extremely transmissible and hard to control. But that hasn't stopped health officials from trying. In the U.S. President Barack Obama said on Wednesday that affected schools "should strongly consider temporarily closing so that we can be as safe as possible," prompting the closure of schools with confirmed cases - involving some 50,000 students - in several states. At his news conference on Wednesday night, Obama also said that "every American should know that their...
Those measures include strengthening surveillance of travelers entering the U.S., examining and testing people who might be exhibiting flu-like symptoms and alerting U.S. citizens in Mexico, where the disease still seems to be at its worst. Meanwhile, other countries have placed far stronger restrictions on travel to Mexico, in an effort to cut off the spread of the disease. Cuba and Argentina have temporarily banned flights to and from Mexico, Japan has stopped giving visas to Mexicans who arrive in the country, and France is putting forward a request to suspend all flights between the European Union and Mexico...
...with Mexico, a stance that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and WHO support and which Obama reiterated at his press conference. "Intensive efforts at the border are not effective means for protecting against an infectious disease," said acting CDC director Richard Besser. Still, if the swine flu continues to worsen in Mexico, it's not hard to see how Obama and other world leaders would come under increasing pressure to try to wall off Mexico - just as an infected patient might be quarantined to prevent the spread of the disease. (Read: "Battling Swine Flu: The Lessons from...
Health officials argue that because the H1N1 swine flu virus is already present in so many countries, and readily capable of spreading from person to person, it's far too late to try to isolate one or two countries. Although uninfected countries may be able to delay the introduction of swine flu by imposing draconian limits on international travel, they would not likely be able to stave off the virus for good - and the economic losses resulting from the travel ban may far outweigh any benefits. One 2007 study by the Brookings Institution estimated, for example, that a 95% reduction...