Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (38): 10 S.Amer. presidents exposed
Date: Mon 31 Aug 2009
Source: The Guardian online [edited]
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/aug/31/uribe-alvaro-colombia-swine-flu>
President Álvaro Uribe of Colombia has been diagnosed with swine flu,
prompting urgent checks into the health of other South American
leaders he met at a summit last week. The Colombian leader has been
kept partly secluded in an office at the presidential palace in Bogota
and has continued working by telephone and internet. Officials said
Uribe was expected to make a full recovery. "This isn't something that
has us scared," Diego Palacio, the social protection minister, told a
news conference yesterday [30 Aug 2009].
The 57-year-old conservative leader showed symptoms soon after
addressing a summit at the Argentine ski resort of Bariloche on Friday
[28 Aug 2009]. The presidents of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile,
Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela all attended the
regional meeting. Uribe returned to Colombia. During a public event on
Saturday [29 Aug 2009], he was sneezing and had a fever and aching
muscles. On Sunday, doctors confirmed the cause was pandemic (H1N1)
2009 virus [swine flu virus] infection. Checks were being carried out
on the 55 people who flew with him to the summit, including cabinet
ministers, and Colombian authorities were using diplomatic channels to
urge other South American governments "to adopt the necessary
measures," said Uribe's spokesman, Cesar Mauricio Velasquez.
To date, neither the president's travelling companions nor the other
heads of state with whom he came into contact have reported symptoms.
Venezuela's president Hugo Chavez said yesterday [30 Aug 2009] his own
health was fine and wished his counterpart a speedy recovery. "I
regret this and hope there are no repercussions for the president's
health and that nobody else has caught the disease," he said.
The Union of South American Nations summit was called because Chavez
and other regional leaders had expressed alarm over Bogota's plan to
expand US access to Colombia's military bases in a pact that has
evoked bitter memories of US meddling in the region.
It was not immediately clear whether President Uribe was infected with
the virus in Colombia, which has 621 confirmed cases, or picked it up
in Argentina, which is in the depths of the southern hemisphere winter
and has tens of thousands of suspected cases. Alberto Cortez, an
infectious disease specialist at Colombia's National University, told
the Associated Press Uribe could have infected other leaders. The
presidents shook hands, spent hours around a table and mingled during
the joint photo session.
As the northern hemisphere braces itself for a surge in winter flu
cases, the good news from the southern hemisphere is that its winter
outbreak was less fatal than feared. The virus has not mutated into a
harsher strain, allowing most people to recover without treatment.
Source: The Guardian online [edited]
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/aug/31/uribe-alvaro-colombia-swine-flu>
President Álvaro Uribe of Colombia has been diagnosed with swine flu,
prompting urgent checks into the health of other South American
leaders he met at a summit last week. The Colombian leader has been
kept partly secluded in an office at the presidential palace in Bogota
and has continued working by telephone and internet. Officials said
Uribe was expected to make a full recovery. "This isn't something that
has us scared," Diego Palacio, the social protection minister, told a
news conference yesterday [30 Aug 2009].
The 57-year-old conservative leader showed symptoms soon after
addressing a summit at the Argentine ski resort of Bariloche on Friday
[28 Aug 2009]. The presidents of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile,
Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela all attended the
regional meeting. Uribe returned to Colombia. During a public event on
Saturday [29 Aug 2009], he was sneezing and had a fever and aching
muscles. On Sunday, doctors confirmed the cause was pandemic (H1N1)
2009 virus [swine flu virus] infection. Checks were being carried out
on the 55 people who flew with him to the summit, including cabinet
ministers, and Colombian authorities were using diplomatic channels to
urge other South American governments "to adopt the necessary
measures," said Uribe's spokesman, Cesar Mauricio Velasquez.
To date, neither the president's travelling companions nor the other
heads of state with whom he came into contact have reported symptoms.
Venezuela's president Hugo Chavez said yesterday [30 Aug 2009] his own
health was fine and wished his counterpart a speedy recovery. "I
regret this and hope there are no repercussions for the president's
health and that nobody else has caught the disease," he said.
The Union of South American Nations summit was called because Chavez
and other regional leaders had expressed alarm over Bogota's plan to
expand US access to Colombia's military bases in a pact that has
evoked bitter memories of US meddling in the region.
It was not immediately clear whether President Uribe was infected with
the virus in Colombia, which has 621 confirmed cases, or picked it up
in Argentina, which is in the depths of the southern hemisphere winter
and has tens of thousands of suspected cases. Alberto Cortez, an
infectious disease specialist at Colombia's National University, told
the Associated Press Uribe could have infected other leaders. The
presidents shook hands, spent hours around a table and mingled during
the joint photo session.
As the northern hemisphere braces itself for a surge in winter flu
cases, the good news from the southern hemisphere is that its winter
outbreak was less fatal than feared. The virus has not mutated into a
harsher strain, allowing most people to recover without treatment.
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