A young illegal immigrant child from Central America was diagnosed with swine flu Friday after crossing the Texas-Mexico border, necessitating 2,000 vaccines be shipped to Lackland Air Force Base to treat people who may have been exposed, U.S. authorities confirmed to TheBlaze.
The child was diagnosed after being transported from a border holding facility to the base, where he showed signs of illness and had to be hospitalized. It’s the first known case of the H1N1 virus to be diagnosed among the recent surge of unaccompanied immigrant children to arrive at the base, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) said.
“We are told the sick child was feverish for several days before being sent for medical treatment,” Gohmert said. “Having spent the weekend on our border, I can tell you that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is not taking charge of the undocumented children in any kind of reasonable time frame as they are absolutely required to do.”
The federal government is reportedly now shipping 2,000 H1N1 vaccines to Lackland AFB to prevent an outbreak.
By the way, Lackland AFB would be a terrible place for an outbreak to occur. It’s only where every single new Air Force recruit undergoes basic training. It’s also where Air Force officer candidates get trained. It’s in San Antonio, Texas’ second largest city, and a trade hub between Texas, Mexico and the rest of the country.
The Centers for Disease Control estimates that H1N1 killed between 151,700 and 575,400 people worldwide during the 2009 pandemic.
UPDATE:
RT @KRGV_Joe: BREAKING directly from HHS: H1N1 detected in immigrant child held at Lackland Base. TX Dpt of Health sending 2k immunizations
— KRGV CHANNEL 5 NEWS (@krgv) June 25, 2014
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