US DEATH:SWINE FLU has claimed its first life in the US with the death of a Mexican toddler who was visiting Texas with his family.
The news of the boy’s death came as health officials confirmed that the virus had spread to at least 10 US states, with almost 100 cases reported – more than half of them in New York.
Richard Besser, acting director of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, said there were 91 reported cases but he acknowledged that the figure was almost certainly out of date.
The two-year-old boy died at a hospital in Houston on Monday night, almost three weeks after he developed flu symptoms.
The boy and his family came from Mexico City to visit relations in Texas at the beginning of April.
US president Barack Obama offered his “thoughts and prayers and deepest condolences” to the boy’s family and to other victims of the virus.
Concerned about the impact of the spread of the virus on US pork products, which have been banned in China and Russia, the White House has started referring to swine flu by its scientific name, the H1N1 virus.
The Obama administration has warned that more deaths are likely and the president has asked Congress for $1.5 billion (€1.13 billion) to help fight the disease.
“This funding will ensure that we have adequate supplies of vaccines and the equipment to handle a potential outbreak. It will ensure that these vaccines and equipment get to where they need to go around the country. And it will provide for sufficient planning and preparation at the state and local levels,” Mr Obama said yesterday.
“Every American should know that the federal government is prepared to do whatever is necessary to control the impact of this virus.”
Dr Besser said falling tax revenues due to the recession had left many state and local health departments short of funds to deal with the spread of the virus.
“We hear about tens of thousands of state public health workers who are going to be losing their jobs because of state budgets,” he said.
“It is very important that we look at that resource because this outbreak was identified because of a lot of work going on around preparedness.”