April 28, 2009
RightSideNews.com

As the death toll from Swine Flu in Mexico keeps rising, currently at 159, President Obama asks Congress for $1.5 billion to fight the fast-spreading disease.  Confirmed cases of Swine Flu in the United States now totals 66. 

It seems difficult to believe that Federal U.S. officials may be backing down from any further securing of the borders.  Their attitude, in essence, that as the flu seems to be spreading so rapidly that further restriction at the borders would not help.  This could be imprudent in light of the rising death toll in Mexico.  Public officials seem more intent on minimizing concern, than on reducing the threat of additional exposure. An Associated Press headline reads : "Mexico death toll stabilizes as epidemic spreads"  the article stating that this virus is going to spread regardless of any precautions taken to contain it.     

Regardless of the current spread of the disease in the United States, any and all efforts to reduce or eliminate additional infection from apparent point of origin would seem reasonable, if only to control new exposure in order to keep the virus at existing levels, instead of allowing additional risk.  Citing that the death toll has "leveled off" seem to make that the bench mark for breathing a collective sigh of relief and determiniation that we must just deal with the inevitable spread, forgetting about any efforts to stop additional  or new exposure by border quarrantine. 

At this time there are no reported deaths from the fast-spreading virus in the United States.  This should be cause enough to continue, if not strengthen, the precaution of keeping tighter border scrutiny in place to reduce the chances of additional infection, at least until Mexico is able to gain better control of the epidemic. 

While this may seem a common sense approach, the same Associated Press story goes on to quote WHO spokesman, Gregory Hartl: "Border controls do not work. Travel restrictions do not work," said WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl, recalling the SARS epidemic earlier in the decade that killed 774 people, mostly in Asia, and slowed the global economy.  Instead, they say, governments should do more to provide medical help to people with swine flu symptoms, since the virus is proving to be treatable if diagnosed early." 

If we read Mr. Hartl's comment correctly, it would actually seem to endorse border control and travel restrictions, since the SARS epidemic was, as he notes "mostly in Asia".  While there was no absolute control of the spread, once identified, intercontinental travel ground to a near halt and was severely slowed, as travel within the continent was close to non-existent.  774 people dying was tragic indeed and at the time, credit was given, in part, to the international efforts to curtail travel into and out of the most severely effected areas of infection as being responsible for keeping that deadly virus from spreading even further than it did and greatly increasing the death toll world wide. 

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta said Tuesday that the number of confirmed Swine Flu cases here in the U.S. has now jumped to 64 and there are at least four more reported by two states.  That number includes five hospitalizations, up from only one hospitalization as of yesterday, commented a CDC official to a Senate panel.

Rear. Adm. Anne Schuchat, the CDC interim science and public health deputy director told a Senate Appropriations health subcommittee,  "Based on the pattern of illness we're seeing, we don't think this virus can be contained .. . . But we do think we can reduce the impact of its spread, and reduce it's impact on health, . ."  Rear. Adm. Schuchat continued her comment, responding to the committee, "It's important for people to know there's a lot we can do.  The investments that have been made in preparedness are making a difference."  However, she warned, not only might the disease get worse, "it might get much worse."  Adding, "We don't have all the answer today."    While Richard Besser, acting director of the CDC is quoted as saying, "I fully expect we will see deaths from this infection." 

Even with this expert testimony, Secretary of DHS, Janet Napolitano seems reluctant to take more stringent action to reduce additional exposure to the United States, when asked about stricter measures, she responded, "That's something that always can be considered, but you have to look at what the costs of that are.  We literally have thousands of trucks and lots of commerce that cross that border.  We have food products and other things that have to go across that border.  So there's a  - - that would be a very, very heavy cost for - - as the epidemiologists tell us - - would be marginal, if any, utility in terms of actually preventing the spread of the virus."  Of course, this does not address Ms. Napolitano's lax attitude about the hundreds of illegal aliens who steal across our border daily, with no regard to the potential health threat their presence could pose.

It is uncertain how Secretary Napolitano rationalizes that the "cost" of restricting the border traffic out-weighs the public health and safety of American citizens by allowing additional exposure and additional risk of infection.   Even so, the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control recommend taking every precaution to avoid contact with  those who are already sick or exposed. 

Secretary Napolitano's reluctance to take decisive steps now seems to be at odds with subsequent statements she made, in an attempt to relate the administrations preparedness, explaining that the administration wouldn't wait for a World Health Organization declaration of a pandemic to deliver a pandemic-like response.

Yet, noting that the international health body has elevated its alert status to Level 4 of a 6-step process, the homeland security chief said: "We're prepared as if there were a pandemic. We're not waiting."

Apparently, however, it would appear that waiting is what Secretary Napolitano has decided to do.  Should this prove to be as bad as it gets, it will more likely be attributable to the extraordinary efforts of our health care providers and medical facilities, along with the CDC, and not due to the "we don't want to interrupt the cross border commerce" attitude of the individual who heads the department responsible for the security of our borders.