by Mark Silva and updated at 10:40 am EDT
The swine flu outbreak has claimed its first victim in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control: A 23-month old child who died in Texas.
"We are closely and continuously monitoring the emerging cases of this virus throughout the United States,'' President Barack Obama said in a statement at the White House this morning, also acknowledging news of the death in Texas "received overnight.''
"My thoughts and prayers go out'' to the family, the president said today. "This is obviously a serious situation, serious enough to take the utmost precautions.''
Texas health authorities say the child's family had brought him to Brownsville, Tex., from Mexico, on April 4 and he developed flu symptoms four days later. He was admitted to a Houston hospital after developing a fever and died Monday night.
Obama, urging health authorities throughout the nation to be diligent in the monitoring of illnesses, said public health officials also have recommended that schools with suspected cases of the virus, H1N1, "should strongly consider temporarily closing.
"Parents should also think of contingencies, if schools in their areas temporarily shut down,'' Obama said. "If we ended up having a school closure (because) a child was sick, just sending the child to a daycare center is not a good solution.''
Obama has requested an emergency $1.5 billion from Congress for to cope with a public health emergency that was declared Sunday by the Department of Health and Human Services. The known number of U.S. cases has tripled since then.
Obama swore in the new HHS secretary, Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas, last night in the Oval Office after her confirmation by the Senate on Tuesday and sent her immediately to a White House Situation Room meeting on the flu outbreak.
The president spoke about the newest flu development in an appearance at the White House this morning with Sen. Arlen Specter, the Pennsylvanian who is switching to the Democratic Party, before heading to a "town-hall'' styled forum in the St. Louis area today, his 100th day in office.
"We will be vigilant in monitoring the progress of this flu,'' said Obama, who previously has called the outbreak a cause for "concern'' but not "alarm... And I will make every judgment based on the best science available.
Dr. Richard Besser, acting director of the CDC, confirmed the fatality in an appearance this morning on NBC's Today show.
With 64 confirmed cases of the disease nationwide according to the agency's latest accounting - including 45 in New York City - the agency maintains it's too soon to say how fast the flu is spreading.
Health authorities had anticipated the first death, after the disease claimed more than 150 lives in Mexico, where the outbreak began. Yet the death of the toddler in Texas is tragic, Besser said.
"As a pediatrician and a parent, my heart goes out to the family,'' Besser said on the Today show.
The swine flu case in Texas was one of six that had been confirmed in the U.S. in addition to 10 in California, 2 in Kansas and one in Ohio, according to the CDC's latest accounting Tuesday. The federal government also has started referring to the disease by its medical name, the H1N1 virus.
Comments
This will show how screwed up health care is in the USA.
More deaths on the way.
Posted by: ornery | April 29, 2009 9:12 AM
As of 8:30am central, this story has not been updated in that the child was from Mexico and was receiving treatment in Texas. This information is important in that unfortunately this child may not have been able to receive the greatest medical care in the world because of the fact he/she was a foreign national. This flu still has not claimed anyone in the US, so please do not panic.
Posted by: Mark | April 29, 2009 9:45 AM
Latest news indicates that the child who died was Mexican and was brought to houston for medical treatment for flu like symptoms. In other words , the child was just brought to the US . This should be classified as the death of a Mexican citizen. However this story is another example of how the news media is hyping this story. In the US there are about 36000 deaths per year from rgular type A and B flu. That is about 100 deaths per day. Yet there are no headlines about this "pandemic"
Posted by: ejhickey | April 29, 2009 9:47 AM
Easy with the hype wagon. This wasn't a US citizen who died. The person came up from Mexico.
Posted by: Andy | April 29, 2009 9:48 AM
this is really a bad news to everyone. We extend our condolences to the family of the child. Swine flu should be taken seriously and everyone most especially the government and health experts must take full action about it before it makes everything worst.
Posted by: long island girl | April 29, 2009 10:11 AM
Half the story . . . it wasn't actually an American that died. It was a Mexican kid whose family crossed the border into Texas. So now, Mexicans are dying of the swine flu not only in their country, but in ours. Close the border, close the border, CLOSE THE BORDER. Why are we still allowing travel to and from Mexico? Mexico is completely engulfed, and the more people we let come and go, the more engulfed we're going to be, too.
Posted by: Rachel | April 29, 2009 10:39 AM
Finally found out that first toddler in the US to die from SWINE FLU was from Mexico! Close the borders! What a joke! Think I'll go to any emergency ward in the US and get some immunity from the mexicans there. Oh, and pass the rare pork chop. Wonder if we would have this problem if the world obeyed God's law of clean and unclean meats.
Posted by: Harold Reimann | April 29, 2009 10:58 AM
"This information is important in that unfortunately this child may not have been able to receive the greatest medical care in the world because of the fact he/she was a foreign national." How do you know.... ??? Assume a relative that lives there would get treatment at that hospital before the sick child from Mexico.... If you assume so much about the hospital care... Why not assume he is illegal and putting a stupid amount of risk to the medical staff and patience at the hospital...
Posted by: Dane | April 29, 2009 11:00 AM
I don't think a virus knows the difference between a Mexican child and an American child.
Posted by: ornery | April 29, 2009 11:36 AM
I pray for the family that suffered such a terrible lost. The fact that the child was a Mexican national does not make it better for anyone. still, the fact that he was brought to the United States for treatment should be mentioned in the news, so people here keep things in perspective.
Posted by: Esperanza | April 29, 2009 11:49 AM
O God, whose beloved Son did take little children into his arms and bless them: Give us grace, we beseech thee, to entrust this child to thy never-failing care and love, and bring us all to thy heavenly kingdom; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Posted by: Bob Stanton | April 29, 2009 12:02 PM
ejhickey is right. about 36000 deaths occur each year in the US because of the "regular" flu, and no one freaks out about it? Not to mention most cases in the US people have recovered at home and be completely fine. Like you would with a type A or B flu.
The media is hyping the heck out of this and I think it's putting people even further on edge than they already are.
Posted by: JDilla | April 29, 2009 12:20 PM
Close down the border and stop flights from Mexico! Once Mexico runs out of Tamiflu, all the citizens will come here and use it all up! Nothing left for tax payers/legar citizens!
Posted by: J.C. | April 29, 2009 12:30 PM
Get the latest info on swine flu http://www.ehow.com/how_4937955_swine-flu-information.html
Posted by: Fitiwalt | April 29, 2009 1:06 PM
So parents from Mexico brought their child from Mexico to get free US healthcare?
When will this stop?
Posted by: Cindy Chin | April 29, 2009 1:49 PM
And this illegal Mexican kid was being treated here why, risking the spread of what should have remained a 3rd world disease? Because that genius community organizer you libbis elected, and that sorry excuse of a DHS Secretary are too busy creating a watch list of U.S. citizens who might disagree with the false prophets agenda. Go protect our borders and keep the filth out!
Posted by: John Galt | April 29, 2009 2:20 PM
All you shouting "close the border" does you intend to strand American citizens in Mexico?
Posted by: Marcus | April 29, 2009 2:54 PM
Because that genius community organizer you libbis elected, and that sorry excuse of a DHS Secretary are too busy creating a watch list of U.S. citizens who might disagree with the false prophets agenda. Go protect our borders and keep the filth out!
Posted by: John Galt | April 29, 2009 2:20 PM
The "filth"? I'm sure you include the "libbis" [sic] in that too. For your information, slow boat, immigration has always been a problem in the United States........ask any Indian.
Posted by: bill r. | April 29, 2009 3:05 PM
Bob Stanton, God bless you.
Posted by: ornery | April 29, 2009 3:23 PM
Why was an infected Mexican child allowed to enter this country? If they are not going to bar planes landing from Mexico, there should be CDC at the gates of every airport to greet every plane. Every person on that plane must get examined for illness.
I am sure there will be others on that plane who end up getting sick. Not to mention the people this boy came into contact with in the U.S.
CLOSE THE BORDER. NOW!
Posted by: Greg | April 29, 2009 4:03 PM
Naked and helpless came thee into the world and naked and helpless will thee leave it.
Posted by: ornery | April 29, 2009 4:24 PM
The child in question entered the US legally, for a visit, on April 4th, before the swine flu was recognized as a serious problem. At that time the child showed no symptoms of illness.
So calm down, cut out all the ignorant ranting about "illlegals" and get the facts.
Posted by: Marcus | April 29, 2009 4:57 PM
Of course the cases have tripled... when money is dumped into something like that, of course more people will try to take advantage. The hype is being taken way too seriously. If we all took some preventative measures and read a
health resource of any kind, this wouldn't be so bad.
Posted by: ECC | April 29, 2009 5:07 PM
I agree that borders should be patrolled. This is a very serious disease, it is killing people. I don't hear about Texans or people from California wearing face masks-yet. Look Out!
Posted by: Sumiko de Barbeyrac | April 29, 2009 5:22 PM
These days there's more articles about it in the news
than people who have actually contracted swine flu
more people gonna die driving in their cars
but that don't make news like new flus or SARS
35,000 deaths occur every flu season
we weren't concerned last year, what's the reason?
i'm not saying that you shouldn't be worried
but worry on the news gets bigger in a hurry
to hear me rap my full opinion, watch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uSXwbOMV3E
Posted by: journalrhythm | April 30, 2009 12:04 AM
Immigration status? UNCLEAR-
PC talk for illegal alien - per the LA Times
Posted by: Johnny | April 30, 2009 8:30 AM
My God people, talk about the media creating a rediculous reaction! There are tens of thousands of folks who die every year (36,000 last year) from the flu, what we need, and every state is reducing, is better education. If all were getting the education they need then the media couldn't cause this rampant reaction to something that is going on all the time any way. This flu is just a different strain!
Posted by: Iammichl | May 1, 2009 11:15 AM
How sad to read that almost everybody is concern if the child was Mexican or not. The point is that he died, and he died in USA .We should start thinking about our children...... and how to protect them from this flue
Posted by: Cinthia | May 1, 2009 2:13 PM
about 53,000 died at gettysberg in 3 days- civil war.., aprx. 57,000 american soldiers died in-vietnam war.., and about the same per year in auto accidents.., and maybe 35,000 per year in the usa. die from the flu.., and as an unintended consequence of our ban of ddt., millions of people have starved to death etc. worldwide.....regardless of what our govt. media and politburo try to tell us, i believe that the swine flu will turn out to be overblown. The govt.-infrastructure- beast slould be our greater cause for alarm.! don't worship it.!
Posted by: bongwaterbug | May 10, 2009 12:38 AM