White House Aide Caught Flu During Obama's Mexico Trip

Damn, this thing's for real, huh? Turns out the swine flu may very well have infiltrated the White House bubble! The AP is reporting that an aide helping arrange President Obama's recent trip to Mexico was stricken with the flu during the visit. But don't worry—the unidentified security aide, who reports to Energy Secretary Steven Chu, swears he was never within six feet of POTUS, though he did attend a dinner with Obama during the visit. And White House press secretary David Gibbs stressed today that the individual certainly didn't travel home on Air Force One; he flew commercial on April 17th with a cabin full of unlucky strangers! Gibbs explained that they're waiting for test results to confirm whether his flu was of the trendy swine variety, and added that officials would "do everything in our power" to try to track down the other passengers on that flight. (And send them thoughtful "Get Well, Soon" cards.) Three members of the man's family also experienced "mild" flu symptoms after he came back from Mexico, and all have since recovered, but still... How long before Obama starts blowing his nose during press conferences? According to Politico, the White House has now issued a health advisory outlining "protective measures" for anyone who went on Obama’s badly-timed trip to Mexico.

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By John Del Signore in News on April 30, 2009 4:52 PM

Comments [rss]

Manitoba

You know what would help is if airlines would actually allow you to switch your flight without basically taking you up the ass at the same time. I recently had a cold, 101 fever and nausea the day before a flight. So, I called Delta to ask if I could switch my flight to a day or two later.

For an originally $500 flight, the switch would have cost me about $400, so I said, "'eff it" and flew anyway. Who knows how many people I got sick, but I couldn't afford to miss the trip altogether to see my sick relative, and I couldn't afford to switch.

The best part is that my brother flew the flight I wanted to switch to two days later, and he said it was 60% empty, so it's not as if switching should be that expensive.

I'm sure there are many people ending vacations in Mexico, realizing they're sick while also calculating that staying in Mexico for 4-5 more days and switching their flight could cost them quite a bit and deciding to fly back regardless.

People may seem selfish and greedy at times, but it's a pure reflection of how we're treated by corporate America. The airlines should do the right thing and tell people who are sick that they can switch their flights for a nominal fee.

jpeditor

Ah Chu!

ceraunograph

Swine Flu-The Song!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDsPnXWN8vg

inoyourider

Maybe it's all a plot on Obama's life.

bagelman

swine flu is so monday.

ides_of_march

I wouldn't be surprised if swine flu started in Washington with all those gluttonous fat pigs feeding in the pork barrel trough.

MT

With all this fearmongering I'm curious to hear more about the recovery time of people. Obviously the vast majority are recovering from it. Sure, we're all going to get swine flu, but how likely are we to die from it?