Topic du jour - Swine Flu

The latest news, as far as I know:

• The first confirmed US fatality from swine flu.
  "A 22-month-old child from Mexico who was taken to Houston, Texas, for medical treatment is the first confirmed U.S. fatality from swine flu, health authorities said Wednesday.
  "The toddler was not a U.S. citizen, said Kathy Barton, a spokeswoman for the Houston Department of Health and Human Services, adding she could provide no other details."
• First officially confirmed fatality in Mexico
  "The first officially confirmed fatality from the disease occurred April 13. Maria Adela Gutierrez died in the southern city of Oaxaca, capital of the state of the same name.
  "Gutierrez was a door-to-door census-taker for the tax board, meaning she could have had contact with scores of people at her most contagious point, before being hospitalized."
  
  Also, from the same article, the beginnings (?) and a town that has been complaining since March:
  "With the death toll climbing, Mexican authorities at the center of an international swine flu epidemic struggled Monday to piece together its lethal march, with attention focusing on a 4-year-old boy and a pig farm.
  "The boy, who survived the illness, has emerged as Mexico's earliest known case of the never-before-seen virus, Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova said Monday. It provides an important clue to the unique strain's path."
  
  "In Perote, residents of the hamlet known as La Gloria have complained since mid-March that contamination from the pig farm was tainting their water and causing respiratory infections. In one demonstration in early April, they carried signs with pictures of pigs crossed out with an X and the word "peligro" -- danger. Residents told reporters at the time that more than half the town's 3,000 inhabitants were sick and that three children under the age of 2 had died."

But, there's an alternative explanation offered in the article:

The infection may have started with a migrant farmer who returned from work in the U.S. and gave the disease to his wife, who in turn passed it on to other women in the community.

Remember, you can't get swine flu from eating pork products, and Israel flip-flopped on the Kosher label [initially saying "swine flu" was not a Kosher name, they encouraged the term "Mexican flu." After diplomats expressed some misgivings, Israel reversed course and "deems 'swine flu' kosher after all".].

For more information and background, I encourage you to visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "Key Facts About Swine Influenza (Swine Flu)".