Federal health officials this morning reported the first confirmed US death from swine flu. The victim was a 23-month-old Mexican child in Texas. The number of American reported cases has grown from 50 to at least 64 nearly 100 in 10 states by mid-afternoon (see link above) and three more countries — Britain, New Zealand and Israel — report their first cases.
New York’s Mayor Bloomburg warns of probably hundreds more cases at the school where it began and President Obama, who today marks his 100th day in office, is asking Congress for more money to fight swine flu.
American pork producers, meanwhile, are asking for a new name for this flu. They say sales are already being affected. As noted last night in an update to my previous post, about the safety of pork when properly cooked, the name of the federal flu information widget in the left sidebar changed at some point yesterday from Swine Flu Info to 2009 Flu Info. It seems to this consumer that public education, not public relations, is called for first.
