Trucking: mostly business as usual regarding swine flu; some precautions taken

Dr. Richard Besser, acting director of the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, said a new U.S. travel advisory was being prepared suggesting "nonessential travel to Mexico be avoided."

The Trucker Staff

4/27/2009

For trucking it's mostly business as usual thus far regarding the swine flu outbreak in Mexico but some companies are taking precautions.

Franz said none of the company’s border operations have been affected. However, he said, “We are continuing to evaluate the situation and are actively tracking updates from the Centers for Disease Control as well as following its recommendations.”

Rochelle Gorman, CalArk president, said her company has not been impacted “as yet” and Craig Koven, communications manager for Celadon Group Inc. said, “at this point in time we’re doing business as usual.”

And, the news service reported that health measures against the outbreak could slow the passage of goods across the U.S.-Mexico border.

The U.S. imported some $216 billion of goods from Mexico last year, with Mexico, making it the third-largest trading partner after Canada and China.

U.S. officials advised Americans against most travel to Mexico on Monday as the swine flu virus that began there spread to the United States and beyond, The Associated Press reported. With 40 cases now reported in the United States, President Barack Obama said there was reason for concern but not yet "a cause for alarm."

Dr. Richard Besser, acting director of the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, said that so far the disease in the United States seems less severe than the outbreak in Mexico, where more than 1,600 cases have been reported and where the suspected death toll has climbed to 149. No deaths have been reported in the U.S, and only one hospitalization.

"I wouldn't be overly reassured by that," Besser told reporters at CDC's headquarters in Atlanta. He raised the possibility of more severe cases in the United States.

"We are taking it seriously and acting aggressively," Besser told AP. "Until the outbreak has progressed, you really don't know what it's going to do."

The U.S. stepped up checks of people entering the country by air, land and sea.

And Besser said a new U.S. travel advisory was being prepared suggesting "nonessential travel to Mexico be avoided."

The confirmed cases announced on Monday were double the 20 initially reported by the CDC, but Besser said this was due to further testing — not further spreading of the virus — in New York at a school in Queens, bringing the New York total to 28.

Besser said other cases have been reported in Ohio, Kansas, Texas and California. He said that, of the 40 cases, only one person has been hospitalized and all have recovered.

The best way to keep the disease from spreading, he said, is by taking everyday precautions such as frequent handwashing, covering up coughs and sneezes and staying away from work or school if not feeling well.

While the cases reported so far in the United States seem relatively mild, Besser said, far more will be known about the disease's transmission traits and severity in a week or two. He said the particular virus at issue had not been seen before, either in the United States nor Mexico.

Meanwhile, the European Union health commissioner advised Europeans to avoid nonessential travel to Mexico and the United States.

Besser said that including the U.S. in the advisory seemed unwarranted at this time.

State Department Robert A. Wood said the commissioner's remarks were his "personal opinion," not an official EU position, and therefore the department had no comment.

"We don't want people to panic at this point," Wood said.

The Trucker staff may be reached to comment at editor@thetrucker.com.