18 US Kuwait troops suffer swine flu

news.bbc.co.uk...

"The cases are the first to be reported from the Gulf region since the H1N1 outbreak of influenza type A began last month in Mexico.
A Kuwaiti health spokesman told the AFP news agency that the personnel affected had already left the country."

"On Friday, 11 new cases of the disease were confirmed at a Spanish military school about 20 miles outside the capital Madrid.
The disease has now been confirmed in 44 countries, WHO said."



Spreading like wildfire if you ask me, but in a very low-key way. You really can't ignore any of this news anymore.. even if you think it is "hyped".

There is nothing hyped about a deadly spreading disease in 44 countries.

I posted this on another thread, as well. What scares me is that the soldiers are in the Mid-East, in the heart of one of the H5N1 areas (Egypt, for example). This is a perfect opportunity for a viral reassortment, especialy as the Pentagon has assured everyone that all incoming military personnel are tested for H1N1, as they stage in Kuwait, but what about the asymptomatic, but infected troops? Where are they? What kind of mess will this create in a tiny region of people eating MREs, living outside, fighting in wars, etc.?

Does not look good re: rapid spread and mutation.