Well,
Barack Obama's been in office for 100 days and swine flu!
(Laugh!!!)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama pledged "great vigilance" in confronting the swine flu outbreak Wednesday night as it spread coast to coast across the U.S. The outbreak hit 11 states and closed schools amid confirmation of the first U.S. death.
The Geneva-based World Health Organization, a United Nations agency, sounded its own ominous alarm, raising its alert level to one notch below a full-fledged global pandemic. Said WHO Director General Margaret Chan: "It really is all of humanity that is under threat during a pandemic."
Dr. Richard Besser, acting chief of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in Atlanta there were confirmed cases in ten states, including 51 in New York, 16 in Texas and 14 in California. The CDC counted scattered cases in Kansas, Massachusetts , Michigan, Arizona, Indiana, Nevada and Ohio.
In Mexico, where the flu is believed to have originated, officials said Wednesday that the disease was now suspected in 168 deaths, and nearly 2,500 illnesses.
Despite calls from many U.S. lawmakers for tightening controls over the Mexico-US border, Obama ruled out that option, even though the swine flu outbreak has been at its most virulent and may have begun there.
At a prime-time news conference on his 100th day in office, Obama said he would heed the advice of health officials, to whom blocking the border "would be akin to closing the barn door after the horses are out, because we already have cases here in the United States."
Is this swine flu going to be as deadly as predicted? I guess that's the big question these days. Should we worry? Change our lifestyles? I've been coughing for almost three months now. My cough has not gone away from the bronchitis/allergies bout I had. My son is also coughing. It's kind of a lame "cough, cough" but it's impossible to hold back. When I go around stores and school, I am amazed at how many other chronic "cough, coughers" there are at this time. Why are we still coughing? Are we contagious? How would I recognize someone who is really sick? With swine flu, for instance? Would you consider wearing a mask? Did you know there are very many different kinds of flu? Swine flu is not new either. There have been flu epidemics before with thousands of people dying. Bird flu was feared a few years back and it sort of fizzled rather than spreading. I'm not sure what to think. It hasn't been confirmed in New Mexico, YET, but I'm sure it will show up. Is it worth worrying about? Or maybe the best precaution is to wash hands often with soap, especially before eating and not touch one's face. Duh! What else is new?
But, still, it is SCARY!!
And on a side note, WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO YOU TUBE??? It won't play any videos for me! I guess YouTube sorted out their problems for now.
David Bowie - Seven Years In Tibet [Mandarin Version]
Why pigs can fly - song: Seven Years in Tibet, artist: David Bowie, album: Earthling
3 comments:
This whole swine flu mess has been a problem for us. Every year my son develops allergies and a cough in the months of April and May. The doctor can never do anything for it, so we just treat him with medications off the shelf. If he missed two months of school every year, he'd have to be retained, so we leave him in school and teach him how to cough into his sleeve and wash his hands every chance he gets.
However, now with the swine flu scare, he's getting kicked out of classes and sports. Nobody wants to be near him, which makes him feel bad about himself. We know it's just allergies, but everyone else expects the worst.
I've been worried about that cough of yours, Val. But at least you don't have any other symptoms. I hope it goes away and you are free of the hacking soon, though.
You've got funny humor about Obama and pigs flying. lol! :D
~Lisa
I got that forward--cracked me up.
Yeah, I'm getting "sick" of this flu issue. I'm ready for it to fizzle away too.
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