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U.S. Issuing Alerts Advising Limited Travel to Mexico (Update1)
2009-04-28 01:54:39.415 GMT
(Adds congressional hearings on federal response in ninth-
10th paragraphs. For related stories, see {EXT3 <GO>}.)
By Jeff Bliss and Edwin Chen
April 27 (Bloomberg) -- The Obama administration is advising
U.S. citizens to avoid trips to Mexico and is checking travelers
crossing into the country from Mexico for signs of swine flu,
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the
State Department are issuing alerts to ?encourage individuals?
to limit travel to Mexico ?for the time being,? she said at a
press briefing today. Travelers arriving from Mexico who appear
ill are being directed to health officials at the port of entry,
she said.
Forty cases of swine flu have been confirmed in the U.S.,
according to the CDC, double the number reported yesterday.
Richard Besser, the acting director of the center, said health
experts expect more cases, as well as more severe infections.
While only one person in the U.S. has required
hospitalization so far, Besser said today that health experts
?fully expect we will see a broader range? of severity.
Napolitano repeated assurances that the flu hadn?t become a
pandemic and that many U.S. actions were preemptive to ensure
the illness didn?t become a crisis in the country. She echoed
President Barack Obama, who earlier today said the emergence and
spread of swine flu in the U.S. merits heightened concern ?but
it?s not a cause for alarm.?
?Precautionary Tool?
The Department of Health and Human Services has issued an
emergency declaration as a ?precautionary tool? to free up
resources to monitor and respond to the spread of the virus,
Obama said in a speech to the National Academy of Sciences in
Washington.
The World Health Organization, in an emergency meeting
today, raised its alert level from three to four, reflecting the
growing threat of a global outbreak. The maximum level is six.
Napolitano said the Obama administration was prepared for a
heightened alert.
In Washington, lawmakers were preparing to probe the
federal response to the outbreak. The Associated Press reported
that Senator Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat, said the
appropriations subcommittee on health issues that he heads will
hold a hearing tomorrow on the government?s response.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat,
announced in a statement that the chamber?s House Energy and
Commerce Committee?s health subcommittee will conduct a similar
hearing on April 30.
The virus has spread across North America from Mexico to
Canada and possible cases have been reported from Spain to New
Zealand. At least 149 deaths in Mexico have been linked to the
outbreak. The European Union?s health commissioner, Androulla
Vassiliou, advised travelers to avoid Mexico and the U.S.,
though there hasn?t been an official advisory.
Obama?s Mexico Trip
The outbreak coincided with Obama?s trip to Mexico City on
April 16 to meet with Mexican President Felipe Calderon. White
House press secretary Robert Gibbs today repeated his previous
statements that ?the president?s health was never in any
danger? and he showed no signs of any infection.
Gibbs was faced with persistent questions about the
president?s potential exposure following reports that Felipe
Solis, director of Mexico?s National Museum of Anthropology,
died days after he met and shook hands with Obama.
The administration tonight released a statement from
Ricardo Alday, spokesman for the Mexican embassy in Washington,
saying Solis died April 23, a week after he greeted Obama and
Calderon at the museum. ?He died of complications of a
preexisting condition and not of swine flu,? Alday said.
Anti-Viral Drugs
The U.S. government, as part of its emergency declaration,
is making available about a quarter of the strategic stockpile
of 50 million treatment courses of anti-viral drugs. The
priority will be states where cases have been confirmed,
Napolitano said.
The additional cases reported in the U.S. since yesterday
are concentrated in New York. Authorities there say they have 28
confirmed cases of swine flu and 17 that are suspected, all at
St. Francis Preparatory School in Queens.
Swine flu is a respiratory disease of pigs caused by a
type-A influenza virus that regularly leads to outbreaks among
the animals, according to the CDC.
U.S. Issuing Alerts Advising Limited Travel to Mexico (Update1)
2009-04-28 01:54:39.415 GMT
(Adds congressional hearings on federal response in ninth-
10th paragraphs. For related stories, see {EXT3 <GO>}.)
By Jeff Bliss and Edwin Chen
April 27 (Bloomberg) -- The Obama administration is advising
U.S. citizens to avoid trips to Mexico and is checking travelers
crossing into the country from Mexico for signs of swine flu,
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the
State Department are issuing alerts to ?encourage individuals?
to limit travel to Mexico ?for the time being,? she said at a
press briefing today. Travelers arriving from Mexico who appear
ill are being directed to health officials at the port of entry,
she said.
Forty cases of swine flu have been confirmed in the U.S.,
according to the CDC, double the number reported yesterday.
Richard Besser, the acting director of the center, said health
experts expect more cases, as well as more severe infections.
While only one person in the U.S. has required
hospitalization so far, Besser said today that health experts
?fully expect we will see a broader range? of severity.
Napolitano repeated assurances that the flu hadn?t become a
pandemic and that many U.S. actions were preemptive to ensure
the illness didn?t become a crisis in the country. She echoed
President Barack Obama, who earlier today said the emergence and
spread of swine flu in the U.S. merits heightened concern ?but
it?s not a cause for alarm.?
?Precautionary Tool?
The Department of Health and Human Services has issued an
emergency declaration as a ?precautionary tool? to free up
resources to monitor and respond to the spread of the virus,
Obama said in a speech to the National Academy of Sciences in
Washington.
The World Health Organization, in an emergency meeting
today, raised its alert level from three to four, reflecting the
growing threat of a global outbreak. The maximum level is six.
Napolitano said the Obama administration was prepared for a
heightened alert.
In Washington, lawmakers were preparing to probe the
federal response to the outbreak. The Associated Press reported
that Senator Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat, said the
appropriations subcommittee on health issues that he heads will
hold a hearing tomorrow on the government?s response.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat,
announced in a statement that the chamber?s House Energy and
Commerce Committee?s health subcommittee will conduct a similar
hearing on April 30.
The virus has spread across North America from Mexico to
Canada and possible cases have been reported from Spain to New
Zealand. At least 149 deaths in Mexico have been linked to the
outbreak. The European Union?s health commissioner, Androulla
Vassiliou, advised travelers to avoid Mexico and the U.S.,
though there hasn?t been an official advisory.
Obama?s Mexico Trip
The outbreak coincided with Obama?s trip to Mexico City on
April 16 to meet with Mexican President Felipe Calderon. White
House press secretary Robert Gibbs today repeated his previous
statements that ?the president?s health was never in any
danger? and he showed no signs of any infection.
Gibbs was faced with persistent questions about the
president?s potential exposure following reports that Felipe
Solis, director of Mexico?s National Museum of Anthropology,
died days after he met and shook hands with Obama.
The administration tonight released a statement from
Ricardo Alday, spokesman for the Mexican embassy in Washington,
saying Solis died April 23, a week after he greeted Obama and
Calderon at the museum. ?He died of complications of a
preexisting condition and not of swine flu,? Alday said.
Anti-Viral Drugs
The U.S. government, as part of its emergency declaration,
is making available about a quarter of the strategic stockpile
of 50 million treatment courses of anti-viral drugs. The
priority will be states where cases have been confirmed,
Napolitano said.
The additional cases reported in the U.S. since yesterday
are concentrated in New York. Authorities there say they have 28
confirmed cases of swine flu and 17 that are suspected, all at
St. Francis Preparatory School in Queens.
Swine flu is a respiratory disease of pigs caused by a
type-A influenza virus that regularly leads to outbreaks among
the animals, according to the CDC.