Us Prepares For Extended Haul as Swine Flu Spreads
“This is obviously a very serious situation, and every American should know that their entire government is taking the utmost precautions and preparations,” Obama declared, just hours after the World Health Organization pointed to spreading U.S. infections as it ramped up its grim warnings.
But with nearly 100 confirmed cases in 11 states and many more suspected, Obama also stressed that average people have some power to fend off this new flu just like they can guard against the garden-variety kind.
“It sounds trivial but it makes a huge difference,” Obama said at a news conference Wednesday night on his 100th day in office. He repeatedly urged people to wash their hands, cover their coughs and stay home rather than spread germs when theyre feeling sick.
Dr. Richard Besser, acting chief of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in Atlanta on Wednesday there were confirmed cases in 10 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. State officials in Maine said laboratory tests had confirmed three cases in that state, not yet included in the CDC count.
Scores of schools were closed around the country and more might need to be shut down temporarily, triggering a chain reaction as parents left without child care cant report to work. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano urged U.S. businesses to figure out who can telecommute and to take other steps to keep operations going for what promises to be a long period of uncertainty.
“Were going to be working through this for a while,” Napolitano said.
But barely a week after the virus discovery, the outbreak already has cash-strapped states feeling pinched. In Kansas, with two confirmed cases, the health secretary said hed need more money to keep the state laboratory and other offices working to identify and control the swine flu. Obama has requested an additional $1.5 billion to assist with the outbreak.
Of particular concern is New York Citys outbreak, with 51 confirmed cases and tests under way on three probable ones outside the city. City Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden said Wednesday that all those with confirmed cases are recovering, but two more city schools closed because of suspected cases – in addition to a Queens Catholic school with a large outbreak.
Schools arent the only focus. In California, dozens of Marines were under quarantine to see if theyll develop illness after contact with a comrade confirmed to have the new flu.
Mexico, hardest-hit with 168 suspected deaths, reported that new cases and mortality finally may be leveling off thanks to aggressive public health measures. But the World Health Organization, particularly worried about patterns of illness in the U.S., raised its alert level to its second-highest notch and called for intensified efforts to produce a vaccine against infections now seen on four continents.
U.S. scientists are racing to develop the key vaccine ingredient – a strain of the virus engineered to trigger the immune system. But they cautioned Wednesday that it would take several months before enough doses could roll off assembly lines for the necessary testing in human volunteers to see if a swine flu vaccine is safe and effective.
“Its going now as fast as it can go,” Dr. Bruce Gellin, head of the National Vaccine Program Office, said of the work. “Were hopeful that by early fall we could potentially have something available.”