Swine Flu

smitty · Post by **smitty** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 9:44 pm

Israeli official: Swine flu name offensive
1 day ago

JERUSALEM (AP) — The outbreak of swine flu should be renamed "Mexican" influenza in deference to Muslim and Jewish sensitivities over pork, said an Israeli health official Monday.

Deputy Health Minister Yakov Litzman said the reference to pigs is offensive to both religions and "we should call this Mexican flu and not swine flu," he told a news conference at a hospital in central Israel.

Both Judaism and Islam consider pigs unclean and forbid the eating of pork products.

Scientists are unsure where the new swine flu virus originally emerged, though it was identifed first in the United States. They say there is nothing about the virus that makes it "Mexican" and worry such a label would be stigmatizing.

Two Israelis who recently visited Mexico have been hospitalized with symptoms of the flu. Health authorities have not yet confirmed whether they actually have the virus.

The current strain of swine flu is thought to have originated in Mexico where more than 100 people have been killed by the disease so far.

Laboratories in the U.S. and Canada have confirmed that of the samples tested so far, the swine flu virus in Mexico and U.S. appear to be the same.

tojol57 · Post by **tojol57** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 9:56 pm

good one smitty... i think it was somebody from the WHO or CDC that felt this flu was miss named... I can't remember if i saw it on CNN or where, but one of Obama's team wanted to call it the "America's Flu" since they can't pin down the origin of it for sure. And how the "Swine Flu" was creating an economic crisis in the agricultural farming communities of the US and Canada.

this is going to get interesting that is for sure...

harry · Post by **harry** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 11:10 pm

Sr. Fox wrote:
pdxbuff wrote:nightclus, restaurants, or whatever as I have an upcoming trip in the next 5 days. Thanks!
We went for a walk last night. Rumors are just that. All the restaurants were open on the Malecon and in Old Town. Story is that night clubs are to be closed at 12:00 midnight. A few "bar only" places were closed however the story is they will be open today 'till midnight.
We invited the Reglamentos (like by law enforcement officers) in yesterday and we were told we did not have to close because we are a restaurant not a bar only.
I saw Andele's open as usual as was Asadero's, Steves Bar, El Torito and others. It was business as usual. Places we were told that were closed were open.

There is so much BS flying here that this may be the only danger to your health here in PV

Thank you Sr Fox for an on the ground report. Please keep us posted so the rumors don't ruin it for everbody. Still plan to depart for PV on May 16. Regards, Harry

pdxbuff · Post by **pdxbuff** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 11:20 pm

Cruise lines are cancelling stops in PV:
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/cruises/ ... 14403.blog

Plus4 · Post by **Plus4** » Wed Apr 29, 2009 12:15 am

helenf wrote:Here is the latest for any Canucks who are schedule to fly down to Mexico or were to have a Cruise stop in Mexico.

http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2009/0 ... ansat.html

We now have two confirmed cases in Alberta they say as well. One in northern Alberta and one in Calgary.

Helen

In the past few hours a few more Canadian companies have chosen not to fly charters to Mexico ...

Air Canada Vacations will not fly any of its charter vacation planes to Mexico until June 1st.

Thomas Cook Vacations is postponing its vacations to Mexico until May 8th.

WestJet has cancelled all its flights to Mexico between May 4th and June 20th. They will also increase their rescue flights to help bring travelers back to Canada.

Noli Tours, Air Transat, Sunwing Vacations, Sunquest Vacations and Signature Vacations have postponed flights to Mexico until June 1st.

For Canadian travelers in Mexico, most airlines will continue flights until May 3rd in an effort to bring all their customers and staff back to Canada.

RobR1 · Post by **RobR1** » Wed Apr 29, 2009 9:28 pm

I was in a restaurant yesterday when I noticed I was the only Gringo in the place. Not unusual in Mexico, but I'm in Chicago. It dawned on me that it would be more likely for me to run into someone just back from Mexico City in Chicago than I would in PVR, Huatulco or Cabo. If you want great Mexican food come to Chicago. Go to Mexico for the ambience!!

Sally Navarre · Post by **Sally Navarre** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 2:03 am

Greetings. My trip is planned next Wednesday May 6th for 1 week in Puerto Vallarta and a week in Bucerias. Almost everybody I know is trying to talk me out of going due to this Swine Flu. I don't have access to much media as I work in rural Alaska. What do you all people in P.V. have to say? I've going down about once a year since the 1970's and I really don't want to forgo my trip. I just want fun, sun and some fresh vegetables, fruit, and alcohol after a long dark winter.
P.S. I am writing this from Chevak, Alaska where there is still 4 feet of snow on the ground and it was snowing earlier this a.m..

pdxbuff · Post by **pdxbuff** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 3:16 am

I have cancelled my reservation this weekend. Reason being the closure of the night clubs and bars and the the 2 drink thing in restaurants. Airplanes with their recyclyled air is another concern especially on the way back. I have a week as a window so may be ble to able to reschedule next next week if this chrisis calms down.
Thanks again you guys.

pdxbuff · Post by **pdxbuff** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 5:42 am

Forgot one thing. as I recall, "clubs and bars are closed in old town until June 4th and maybe June 6th?
When this restriction is rescinded, please let me know.
Please continue to update this board with the latest developments. Thanks!

darla · Post by **darla** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 1:54 pm

A previous poster said all bars and clubs in old town would be closed until Jun 4 or 6th. I just looked it up and they are actually closed until MAY 4 or 6th. Here's another exerpt from the sight I was looking at..."All events of the Cultural Department of Puerto Vallarta are canceled or postponed. The traditional Vallarta May Fiestas will begin May 9." I have a tripped planned for 23 May and am still hoping they will get things sorted out by then...time will tell I guess.

Sr. Fox · Post by **Sr. Fox** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 2:10 pm

As of April 30th 8:00 am, nothing has changed for us. We are open as usual. We have not been officially informed of any two drink rules. As a precaution, we are only serving you your last two drinks.

No need to cancel trips and plans. Vallarta is still a lot of fun without a few large night clubs. I do feel sorry for the bar only places that were told to close though. Seems as long as you serve food you can remain open though we have not had an official visit informing us of this.

Think positive! There is no outbreak in PV.

Sr. Fox · Post by **Sr. Fox** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 6:53 pm

Hey we just got our first visit from the Reglamentos today at 1:30 PM. We were advised of booze only with food and we got it in writing. So our new policy is there will be a menu on every table. You better order food if they come in and do an inspection.
They did however hint that they may not have time to come check on us.

This is only in effect until Monday May 4th.

The Party goes on.

wanna be in PV · Post by **wanna be in PV** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 8:05 pm

Thanks for all the info and updates. We have a trip scheduled for May 21st and are thinking about changing destinations. But recycled air is recycled air in a plane. The airline we bought out tickets from states, if your trip to Mexico is planned after May 15th, they will still charge you $150.00 to change destination. Prior to May 14th, there is no extra fee. Just as long as restaurants and some attractions remain open, we will stick to our plans and visit PV. I hope that business owners will be up front about the real siuation down there.

Plus4 · Post by **Plus4** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 8:31 pm

Does anyone really understand what is going on with the swine flu ? I sure don't..

I feel sorry for all those involved...Many are going to suffer more than the flu ....

I was at our local med centre today.. Masks were being handed out to anyone with the sniffles..
One gal had just returned from Mexico 2 weeks ago..She had a sinus infection

but because she worked with chilldren and had been in Mexico she was told to go to the Dcotor..

An interesting blog.... Cancun Canuck..
http://www.cancuncanuck.com/

Few words from the blog
The government of Quintana Roo has ordered facilities with occupancy of greater than 80 people to close. This includes bars, nightclubs and restaurants in Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Cozumel and the Riviera Maya. Mayor of Cancun Greg Sanchez vaguely told the press that some hotels have been ordered closed, but refused to name them, only saying that they were in the Riviera Maya. Authorities are also preparing for a mass exodus (note this does not say "evacuation", read the linked source, they are just preparing for a lot of people to leave) of around 40 000 tourists on Friday and Saturday, virtually clearing the area of visitors. All archaelogic zones in the country have shut down, this includes the Mayan ruins in the area of Cancun. Eco parks at the moment are still open, but I suspect they may be ordered closed as well.

The Cancun airport is the first in Mexico to install 50 new heat thermometers to detect passengers with elevated fevers. The thermometers are set to be put into use tomorrow for both departing and arriving travelers. Cancun and Quintana Roo have yet to officially report a confirmed case of swine flu, maintaining that there are zero infected people in the state. And that's it for the good news.

In the rest of the country, the federal government has closed down all its non-essential operations until May 5th. All levels of government are declaring that they have plans in the works to ease the economic pain of all Mexicans during this crisis. They've promised around $200 USD to each person hospitalized by the infection and have assured waiters that they will receive 50 pesos a day while restaurants are closed.

I must admit to being in a bit of shock with the news of all the closures, particularly since they've reported no infections in the state. I understand the need to try to contain the virus, and I suppose it's better to be safe than sorry, but this is a huge step to take, it will put many people out of work, many people won't be able to feed their families. It honestly feels like hurricane time, the uneasiness in the air and the uncertainty about what is to come. While no citizen of Quintana Roo has been directly struck by the disease, everyone in the state will be feeling the effects of the flu. We've bounced back from worse for sure, Cancun will be on its feet again, but for the moment we'll be tightening our belts.

Beerschnoltz · Post by **Beerschnoltz** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 8:36 pm

My wife, brother, sister and myself are traveling to Nuevo Vallarta this Monday (the 4th) for a week, we're staying at the Riu Palace Pacifico. This past week has been a non-stop rollercoaster, we've been alternating between various states of panic and confidence. However, after educating ourselves as thoroughly as possible, we are completely comfortable continuing with our plans to travel next week.

I think people are finally starting to calm down a bit and relax. I also just saw this encouraging article on CNN--

http://caffertyfile.blogs.cnn.com/2009/ ... overblown/

Granted, the above article is just one guy's opinion, but it's one that I happen to share after reading every single bit of info on this thing during the past several days.

We are still going to be very cautious... We're stocking up on hand-sanitizer and will likely wear masks on the airplanes, but we're going to enjoy our vacation! If one really crunches the numbers and compares number of reported cases with number of people who cross the US/Mexican border each day, we literally have less than a one percent chance of catching this flu.

Even if we do catch the flu, it appears that the worst case scenario will be that we spend a few days under the weather and recover fully within a week (assuming we are back on our home turf and have access to our local health care system when symptoms arise).

The bottom line is, we almost have the same chance of catching this flu by staying here in town now, than we do if we travel to Puerto Vallarta! So why not go enjoy ourselves and get away from these depressing rain clouds?

PV, here we come!

Plus4 · Post by **Plus4** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 8:55 pm

Enjoy you vacation beerschnoltz

Keep us posted ..

In Calgary we have one swine flu case more than the O cases PV has..

btw where are you flying out of..
Thanks

Beerschnoltz · Post by **Beerschnoltz** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 9:33 pm

Thanks!

We're flying out of St. Louis, Missouri. Although we have a stop in Chicago both ways.

arzluvcaz · Post by **arzluvcaz** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 10:24 pm

Calgary now has 4 more added to the list. Still 0 for PVR.
Why are we here

Post by **webmaster** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 11:06 pm

Actually zero for all Jalisco, let's keep it that way!

Greetings

Mogens

Christinafromcali · Post by **Christinafromcali** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 11:42 pm

Hola...been coming to PV for almost 20 years and always stay in Old Town, my daughter and I plan to be there on 5/7 and are hoping for the best, from reading the postings seems like we will have the warm relaxing vacation we are looking forwad to, coming in from San Francisco, no flu reported here yet either, it does look a bit quiet down there on the web cams...will keep checking in for updates...gracias, Christina

Swine Flu

Hmmmm

Re: anyone in PV please update the closure of

Re: Air Transat, Sunquest, Cruises being suspended until Jun

Swine Flu

Just want to say thanks for those replying to my post

PV vakay

Viva la Mexico

Thanks!

Still planning on coming to PV