Mexican Toddler in U.S. Dies From Swine Flu
A Mexican toddler who came to the United States with his family on a visit has died in Texas of the swine flu, Texas officials said, as President Obama recommended that schools with confirmed or suspected cases of the disease “strongly consider temporarily closing.”
“This is obviously a serious situation, serious enough to take the utmost precautions,” Mr. Obama said.
Dr. David Persse, Houston’s director of Emergency Medical Services, said the 23-month-old child had traveled with his family from Mexico to Brownsville in south Texas. On April 13, the child was admitted to the hospital and then transferred the next day to a hospital in Houston, where he died on Monday. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that the child was “in fact infected with the swine virus,” on Wednesday, Dr. Persse said.
The president’s remarks, his most extensive on the outbreak of the H1N1 virus since it began, came as fears of the spread of the disease around the world deepened on Wednesday.
Mexico has been the epicenter of the outbreak, with more than 150 suspected deaths and at least 2,400 suspected to have been infected with the virus.
The number of confirmed cases of the illness continued to inch higher in the United States and Europe on Wednesday, but there were no fatalities outside of Mexico and the Mexican baby who died in the United States. In France, the health minister took the extraordinary step of calling for a suspension of all flights from the European Union to Mexico, the epicenter of the outbreak, even as a Mexican health official said that the death toll appeared to be stabilizing.
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