Napolitano declares public health emergency

The Hill ^

[Sub-Driver]

Napolitano declares public health emergency @ 1:01 pm by Eric Zimmermann

The United States will declare the swine flu outbreak a public health emergency, Homeland Security Director Janet Napolitano said today.

Speaking at a White House press briefing, Napolitano said the declaration is not as severe it sounds.

"It allows us to free up state and local resources" that otherwise would not be available, Napolitano said.

The declaration does not necessarily convey the authority to initiate quarantines.

"We're nowhere near that kind of decision," Napolitano said.

Also at the briefing, the Director of the Center for Disease Control, Richard Besser, warned that there will likely be more cases of the swine flu detected in the U.S., adding those cases will grow more severe.

[ponygirl]

Jeez, what a freaking DORK. He looks like Urkel. And the Libs are probably getting all wet looking at that photo.

[NCBraveheart]

an emergency for .000006% of the population? Something is rotten.

[floriduh voter]

That guy died the day after he shook Bambi’s hand. Media worried about Obama. I feel sorry for the dead guy. He received the kiss of death from the Kenyan.

[justiceseeker93]

The idea of calling this swine flu outbreak an emergency of any kind is preposterous - at least at this point.

Influenza is a common disease. The total number of cases of this swine flu strain in the entire country is less than 100, and there are no reports whatsoever yet of any cases in the US which are causing life-threating complications - which is a more benign picture than most influenza outbreaks, and indicates that this strain of influenza is not unusually virulent - at least as of now.

Seems that the O folks and their MSM lackeys are overdoing this swine flu thing deliberately for pure political purposes - which could be connected to their drive for nationalized health care.

[SunkenCiv]

I agree, it’s being used as a Trojan Horse for nationalized health care. And the flu comes around annually, so it is common. But from time to time a widespread strain happens to be deadly; the Spanish Lady of 1918 is best known — it killed many more worldwide than had died in WWI — but the 19th century had a series of killer strains, and one outbreak in the 1970s (could have been 1975, it happened during the Ford administration, and Carter supporters pissed and moaned about it and blamed Ford for supposed mishandling of the vaccine program) killed a bunch. Quite a few die each year, from influenza, despite availability of vaccines and medications. Kinda puts the AIDS “pandemic” into perspective.

[justiceseeker93]

I'm very well aware of the 1918-19 influenza pandemic and the death toll it caused. But if that same virulent flu strain were to hypothetically recur, deaths in the developed world would likely be markedly reduced due to the medical advances that have occurred in the intervening time.

BTW, the masks that we are now seen being worn in film from Mexico have only minimal effectiveness in preventing the spread of the disease. They were very commonly used in the US during the 1918-19 pandemic.

[LaineyDee]

Erkel in a golf cart. SIGH

[Marysecretary]

The more they talk about it, the bigger and worse it gets. It’s probably no worse than any other flu breakout over the years. People die. That’s just the way it is. I think they have an agenda...