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[Hot Updates] Oops! On Whose Watch Did This Happen?

By SusanUnPC on April 26, 2009 at 10:59 AM in Health Care

Update #1: “As flu hits, holes in W.H. health team,” Politico, April 27, 2009.

Update #2: TOTUS reports that POTUS managed to do what no leader has ever done: Close the borders between Mexico and the U.S. Writes TOTUS, “[H]e goes down to Mexico and a week later, he’s managed to essentially get that country to close its borders. Granted, he may have done it by serving as ‘Patient Zero’ in a global pandemic.”

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

“U.S. Slow to Learn of Mexico Flu: Canadian Officials Knew of Rare Strain Before Americans Did”

PBO is so busy opening cans of worms that you’d think he’s headin’ down to the Potomac with a fishin’ pole. Meanwhile, he isn’t strengthening our essential agencies, from the CDC to the FDA, that Bush cut back severely. One thing is sure: If the U.S. response had been slow during Bush’s administration, the media would have blamed him. Obama will get none of that.

Oh, you must know why the Canadians this figured out so much more quickly — a week sooner:

The CDC, in Atlanta, is one of WHO’s four “reference laboratories” for flu. It routinely gets samples from Mexico and many other countries, and processes them with great urgency, Nancy J. Cox, the head of the flu lab, said last night. It, too, eventually received the Mexican samples.

“The only reason the samples went first to Winnipeg is because the paperwork is easier. We were in a rush,” Hernández said.

FYI: Mauricio Hernández is the “deputy minister for disease prevention and health promotion in Mexico’s Federal Department of Health.”

HERE is an informative article by a fellow who posts at Daily Kos, and who I knew back in the day when I still posted there. He has made pandemics his particular specialty and has the knowledge to speak authoritatively:

“What Does The Swine Flu Outbreak Mean?.”

SEE ALSO: Flu Wiki.

  • Benjamin Franklin Berfle

    Old boss/new boss, Bush/That One-distinctions lacking any substantive differences.

    • Tuppence411

      I like to give credit where credit is due. The Clinton Administration initiated the Strategic National Stockpile and many of the technological advances at the CDC. Bush took public health emergency preparedness to new levels ( Yes of course it was after 9/11 and the anthrax scare.) But let’s give credit where credit is due. On this topic, Barky has alot to thank Bush about. I will say NYC’s response has been very impressive. I know alot of money flowed into the city after 9/11 and it appears the health department there used it wisely. Too bad we can’t say that about other cities.

  • HARP

    Canada’s National Microbiology laboratory found at least 16 positive cases of swine flu out of a shipment of 51 clinical specimens sent from Mexico to Winnipeg for testing, sources say. Those specimens included lung biopsies and nasal swabs, among other types of specimens.

    http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2009/04/24/9232826.html

    • olivia1998

      We really should look more to the north. We do ignore them, sometimes even accuse them of things they haven’t done. I’ve spent time in Canada and I must say they don’t blow there horn very often they just get the job done and move on.

  • http://! stodgie

    it happened on obama’s watch. i wonder how fast he’ll move to blame bush for it.

    • http://noquarter foxyladi14

      quicker then a cat can blink it.s eye.

      • FLDemFem

        Really? So it’s Bush’s fault Obummer hasn’t bothered to fill his Cabinet yet? Or can’t find people who want the jobs? Is it Bush’s fault that Obummer hasn’t yet done the most basic job as President, appoint his Cabinet? I don’t think so.
        Obummer has been too busy flying around in his “spiffy ride” making speeches all over the place to do his job. When the swine shit hits the fan, it will be blowing right at him. People will start to realize exactly who and what we have in the Oval Office. We have an opportunistic narcissist who doesn’t give a rat’s ass about the average American. Now if swine flu starts to threaten the CEOs of this country, then we will see action. But not before.
        I am buying latex gloves and face masks to wear in case it gets this far. Why? Because I cannot count on my government to protect me any more. I have to do it myself. Why hasn’t someone asked Obummer at one of his pressers why he hasn’t managed to fill his Cabinet yet? What, Mr. Schmooze doesn’t have enough friends to fill it? Or does everyone he knows have tax and employment of illegals problems?

        • politicalidentitycrisis

          I think it would be very apropos for the swine flu to hit DC, especially if The One were to get the swine flu. Yes, very apropos.

          • FLDemFem

            Washington DC is primarily populated by black people. Most of them do not have health insurance, or adequate health care. If the swine flu were to hit DC in large numbers, it would be devastating. It is quite possible that hundreds, if not thousands, of people would die. Obummer wouldn’t be in town, he would go to Camp David. Or not step off the grounds of the White House. He wouldn’t be exposed. But it’s nice of you not to think of that and wish something like this on the premier black city in the country. For political reasons, of course. Never mind the human toll, as long as Obummer feels bad, that’s what really counts, right?

            • beebop

              Did it not occur to you that congress meets in DC? No. Didn’t think so. You just want to make this all about your agenda, right? Well. If they all got sick the ridiculous Democrap agenda might slow its roll for a day or two so that PEOPLE MIGHT ACTUALLY READ THE CRAP THEY VOTE FOR!!!!!!!

              That’s why I think it should hit DC. You good with that?

              • FLDemFem

                I don’t think wishing a serious illness on a city is good no matter who lives or works there. It’s not decent. Just not decent. Sorry you think it is.

  • http://noquarterusa No-nonsense-Nancy

    Is this a manufactured crisis like the economic crisis? This administration gets more scary every day.

    • Benjamin Franklin Berfle

      It probably is a manufactured crisis to deflect attention from the latest stupidity on parade emerging from the WH. Whatever happens, I won’t be taking any shot for that particular strain. The Army made us get one in 1976 for the “deadly” swine flu, a “cure” that was worse than the malady. I was sick for over a week.

      • tek

        Berfle: maybe you’re immune?

        • Benjamin Franklin Berfle

          From what I understand, I have some limited immunity but not complete.

          • beebop

            Maybe you get a boost to your immunity from visit a golf course? YOu might want to see …. ha!

  • tek

    What I love is, I keep reading that in Mexico they’ve shut down airports and bus stations,but I have not read one word about closing the border so Mexicans won’t walk into the U. S. and spread the disease here. I wrote Durbin and Obama and inquired if the border is being secured to protect us. Not one word from either of them.

    If it’s in Mexico, it’ll be all over the U. S. because Mexicans go in and out of the U. S. everyday. Great job Bush & Obama, letting foreign people come into our country without medical checks. And isn’t it great that Obama still doesn’t have a Secretary of Health and Human Services? We’ll have to rely on Hillary to protect us!

    • FLDemFem

      What struck me was that the Homeland Security Secretary was doing the announcement. In the past, it has always been the job of the Surgeon-General to do that sort of thing. Oh, wait..we don’t have one yet! The TV star didn’t want the job, and apparently Obummer doesn’t know any other qualified doctors. This will bring to the fore the fact he hasn’t filled his Cabinet yet.. hopefully.

    • Fredster

      What about ships that make port-of-calls to Mexico and then head here to the States?

      • Fredster

        Oops! Should have been ports-of-call.

  • Katmoon

    Didn’t O just come back from Mexico?

    • tek

      Katmoon: Not to worry, yesterday’s headline said Obama’s okay, his health is good! Nevermind about the rest of us, they’re only concerned about The One.

      • Benjamin Franklin Berfle

        Not to worry, yesterday’s headline said Obama’s okay, his health is good! Nevermind about the rest of us, they’re only concerned about The One.

        Indeed. LMAO. That One is probably infecting everyone around him. Obotulism on its way.

        • NomNomNom

          lol, that’s what the conspiracists think: archeologist Solis dies day after meeting with BHO
          http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aEsNownABJ6Q&refer=worldwide

          • CG

            as long as you mention conspiracies, how about this one…
            missing virus samples AND virus samples not listed on inventory

            • NomNomNom

              actually it is scary and I don’t actually dismiss conspiracy theories out of hand at all in this case: I saw that over at blacklisted news a couple of days ago, and jmo the mexico swine flu virus is certainly made in a lab somewhere: a north american swine flu, a eurasian swine flu, an avian flu and a human flu all rolled into one? I’m having a hard time believing that came about naturally, somehow.

              • CG

                I haven’t heard of blacklisted news, do you have the url address handy?

                • NomNomNom

                  http://blacklistednews.com/
                  It’s a great site

                  • CG

                    thanks, just checked the website and it has lots on this flu! plus a bunch of other stuff…

                    • Just Me

                      Interesting, and coincidental, that is Al Gore’s group that he testily testified about the past week:

                      “Venture capital firm set to reap rewards on swine flu
                      The swine flu outbreak is likely to benefit one of the most prolific and successful venture capital firms in the United States: Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Thomson Reuters Private Equity Week reported on Friday.
                      Shares of the two public companies in the firm’s portfolio of eight Pandemic and Bio Defense companies — BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (BCRX.O) and Novavax (NVAX.O) — jumped Friday on news that the swine flu killed a reported 60 people in Mexico and has infected people in the United States.”

                    • Lyn

                      This reminds me of the stocks Obama bought involving the avian flu vaccine right before the companies (whose largest investors were BIG Barky donors)made alot of money.Of course it was a big coincidence and he didn’t know he had bought thousands of dollars worth of the company stocks 2 weeks before he pushed for more federal funding to fight avian flu.

                    • NomNomNom

                      Even more coincidental is Rumsfeld’s stake in Tamiflu:
                      http://money.cnn.com/2005/10/31/news/newsmakers/fortune_rumsfeld/

              • I’m a Linda too

                Oh, i don’t think questioning a situation like this is even Conspiracy. I think its more examples of intelligent folks who pay attention to the past and know what is capable.

                I thought that this sounded like a “man caused disaster”. Especially being the unnormal make up and it’s passing human to human. A combination Avian and Swine flu? Hmmmm.

                And we are the last ones to know what is really going on.

                So, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if it was an act of “Man Made Disaster” like when Weary Barry made the trip down to Mexico and someone released it then with press and all there. Or just a regular “man caused disaster” not released for Weary Barry’s visit, just a release regardless. Or another person releasing a Man Made Man Caused disaster.

        • politicalidentitycrisis

          Here’s my tinfoil hat contribution, so they release the swine flu when Barrakula is in Mexico, not thinking it will get into the US. Mexico is used for an example of what could happen here and they push for that bill to control the internet, among other things, by showing us the imortance of the Government being able to get information out to all Americans as quickly as possible. They make America afraid so they can push through all kinds of ways to control us.

          A few years ago, I would have thought this all crazy, looney stuff if I could even think such things. Now, well, there isn’t much that seems far fetched anymore.

  • I’m a Linda too

    I think it’s quite symbolic and surprised more aren’t discussing it’s coincidence that our country is being hit with the swine flu.

    How more fitting that our country is taking ill with the swine running our government.

    • Benjamin Franklin Berfle

      Yeah, and inserting a cloven hoof in his mouth every time he speaks oinks.

      • http://noquarter foxyladi14

        and that.s hard to do,those are big hoofs.on the other hand.or mouth..

        • Benjamin Franklin Berfle

          He’s got at least a couple of mouths he speaks out of in which he can insert not one–but two cloven hooves!

          • I’m a Linda too

            lol Indeed.

  • Docelder

    Note a couple of subtle things… There are about 20 confirmed cases in the U.S. so far. The has been a declaration of an “emergency” which opens the flow of dollars into vaccine preparation, vaccine release etc. Baxter International (a Chicago company) is working on a vaccine now. Interesting for a couple of reasons… First, we are really past “flu season” and people aren’t holed up in closed houses to stay warm right now. Second, what does Homeland security have to do with flu? Third, it seems to come at an opportune time. Nobody is talking about Pakistan, just 24/7 coverage of the flu. Fourth, this administration seems to love drama. Call him Odrama. They thrive on crisis. Never let a good crisis go to waste. And lastly… a Chicago company is working on a vaccine? How great is that? How many doses is the government going to buy and what is this going to cost us?

    • Benjamin Franklin Berfle

      How many doses is the government going to buy and what is this going to cost us?

      And will any vaccine coming out of Chicago actually work. I mean That One never works.

    • Tuppence411

      Homeland Security along with the CDC control and manage the “Stategic National Stockpile”. It is a supply of medicines, vaccines and medical supplies for incidents of bioterrorism as well as wide spread disease outbreaks. It is located in stategic and “secret” locations throughout the US and can be moved quickly to any state in a short amount of time. In this particular case- they are preparing to release the vendor control inventory of “Tamiful”.

      • Tuppence411

        Tamiflu. Sorry for the typo. It’s an anti-viral medication

      • Benjamin Franklin Berfle

        They are preparing to release the vendor control inventory of “Tamiflu”

        Of which there is not enough to go around in case of mass epidemic.

        • Tuppence411

          Nope, there is not enough. The US had plans to stockpile enough for 20 million doses. Whether they actually have that much on hand right now, who knows? But since there are 300 million people in the US, we can all do the math. Some larger US cities stockpiled their own Tamiflu supplies for essential personnel like hospital workers, police, fire etc…..

          The good news is Tamiflu appears to work on this strain. There has also been no deaths in the US. And while it’s too soon to tell, the fact that those stricken are young could mean the strain is not that unsimilar to one that has circulated before. (Meaning some of the population may already have some level of immunity.) We just have to wait for more information. In the meantime, practice good hygiene!!

  • Peggy Sue

    Why do I feel that this sudden “pandemic” is so conveniently announced over the weekend when the public is biting their feet bloody over the torture memos? I’m turning into an absolute skeptic, but this sounds so familiar–man-eating sharks, flesh-eating bacteria, avian flu that would wipe out the universe, SARS, and the list goes on and on. Maybe it’s wishful thinking because I’ve read the outbreak pattern is “unusual,” that the weird spread is more like the 1914 flu pandemic that wiped out millions world-wide.

    But then, there’s that niggling echo: never let a good crisis go to waste.

    It just never stops! Wish I could back to the days when I just accepted what I read and heard. Life would be so much easier.

    • Benjamin Franklin Berfle

      Why do I feel that this sudden “pandemic” is so conveniently announced over the weekend when the public is biting their feet bloody over the torture memos?

      Diversion is the hallmark of That One and his minions just as the predecessor administration. You feel it because you have your wits about you, Peggy Sue.

  • Eleven

    Apparently this is no big deal. The President went golfing today, and HHS still doesn’t have a secretary, so JP has to make the announcement today. Don’t worry, we are really in good hands.

    • Lyn

      we also don’t have a head of the CDC or a Surgeon General

  • IndieJones

    Consider this:
    The 8 New York high school students who are confirmed to have swine flu all went to Mexico for Spring Break. Now,just consider that THOUSANDS of high school and college students from the United States went to Mexico for Spring Break a couple of weeks ago. Now put into the equation that the virus can stay in its’ host for up to 3 months before the person shows any sypmtoms……
    Now, Can you say GLOBAL PANDEMIC?

    • Benjamin Franklin Berfle

      Now put into the equation that the virus can stay in its’ host for up to 3 months before the person shows any sypmtoms……

      From what I’ve heard about the Swine Flu (and the Army had me vaccinated against a similar strain of Swine Flu in 1976), the symptoms are apparent early on and you know you have it.

      Another diversion as far as I’m concerned.

  • IndieJones

    Let me restate the obvious.
    The 8 New York high school students who are confirmed to have swine flu all went to Mexico for Spring Break!
    Do the math. This is serious.

    • Tuppence411

      Zoonosis or reverse zoonosis- diseases jumping species- is always a major concern. Whether it humans getting SARs, Bird flu, HIV, Plague or monkeys getting mumps or human TB in water buffalo and meerkats in Africa.

      Diseases mixing among species creates the potential for a perfect storm of mutuations and genetic material swapping- a new “novel” strain for which we have no immunity, no drugs that work.

      • Benjamin Franklin Berfle

        And those diseases almost always come from countries that have no proper sanitation, very little regard for cleanliness, and lack the monetary means to make it so. I don’t travel to Mexico for that very reason, which isn’t to say that it is the fault of the people living therein.

        • Tuppence411

          I am with you Berfle. I safeguard my health. But we have no control over the guy down the street hopping on a plane. Or people who show up to work or school sick ( My personal pet peeve.)

        • Tuppence411

          Look back at the Spanish Flu Epidemic. End of WW1, the movement of people between continents and countries. Now think of how much more common world travel is today. Scary. As we see, in a matter of just a few days suspected cases of a flu starting in Mexico might already be in New Zealand, Isreal, etc…….

          • QUEENIE

            The worst thing that happened in our own country was deregulation and the forming of Hubs for US AIR CARRIERS FOR SPREADING DISEASE the fastest way possible!

            If you are traveling now..try to take non stops if at all possible..

            and take the hand cleaner anti-bacterial with you and use it often while on the plane, and especially if using the tray table!

            -none of the airlines clean the planes like they used to…that all got cut while your airfares got cut!

            from a now retired flight crew.

            • FLDemFem

              The anti-bacterial hand cleaner is good, but latex gloves are better. They protect better and if you wear them, you don’t need to wash your hands constantly. I have a tendency towards upper respiratory infections, and the flu is something I avoid like the plague. So in flu season, I wear latex gloves to the store and to any public place where I might be exposed to it. I make sure not to touch my face when wearing them. I take them off when I get in the car and put them in a bag so any germs on them stay there and then I toss them in the trash when I get home. I have been flu free for several years now. And I don’t get those winter colds anymore either, which also occur during flu season.

        • Docelder

          That is exactly it, we have no idea how these 8 got it. Maybe it was from the air being in close contact to a sick person, and maybe it was unclean hands preparing food, or poorly handled food. I have been all over Mexico and it is almost without exception filthy everywhere. Even in tourist hotels, I might say especially in them. When I traveled there, I never ate anywhere the local business class of workers wasn’t eating. I figured they knew where it was clean and they could afford not to eat somewhere that wasn’t. That would be a big difference in vectors and risk. With only about 20 confirmed cases in this country so far, it is too early to be breaking out the sars masks. But, these guys love a crisis. We might as well get prepared for an American Idol style of superficiality coupled with Jerry Springer style drama.

  • http://patriotparty1 patriotparty1

    Well it is official now. Our government, BOTH PARTIES, have kept our borders open, and our immigration system so screwed up that we are now just a third world frickin banana republic. The country that has healed, and wiped out sickness here and all over the world is now held captive to the dirty masses allowed to roam free here.

    Hail, Hail the ONE!

  • Tuppence411

    I know I wrote this before, but I for one am very glad Barky’s Sadministration has holes in its health team. All those acting Secretaries, Commissioners and Directors are career public employees who actually KNOW something about the topics and their agencies. The last thing we need is Kathleen Seebeewhatever and other political payback appointees learning on the job right now.

  • margaret

    Just as I thought all along. Obama is a swine flu carrier.

  • Canadian4Hillary

    CDC to mix avian, human flu viruses in pandemic study
    from 2004.

    http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/influenza/panflu/news/jan1404hybrids.html

    Now, rather than waiting to see if nature spawns such a hybrid, US scientists are planning to try to breed one themselves—in the name of preparedness.

    Was this some crazy experiment gone bad??? HMMMM.

  • UKforDems

    Comment by politicalidentitycrisis | 2009-04-27 08:35:19

    As a matter of fact, yes! Most of DC voted for him if I remember correctly. A natural cleansing of the stupid people who are destroying the country, if not the world. Nature takes care of things…so F!@# you!

    You disgusting dirty bigot. Susan will probably not show this but I care not, as long as an admin reads it. Why is this disgusting thing still allowed to post?

    What happened to you reporting this Scum to the Secret Service for the crap it comes out with?