The "swine flu" that has infected more than 1,000 people
in Mexico has led a lawmaker on the House Homeland Security Committee
to call on U.S. officials to close the southern border.
Rep. Eric Massa (D-N.Y.) said the border should be closed until the
threat is resolved.
"The public needs to be aware of the serious threat of swine
flu, and we need to close our borders to Mexico immediately and completely
until this is resolved," Massa said in a statement.
"I am making this announcement because I see this as a serious
threat to the health of the American public and I do not believe this
issue is receiving the attention it needs to have in the news,"
Massa said.
Swine Influenza or swine flu is a respiratory diesase of pigs caused
by type A influenza that regularly cause outbreaks of influenza among
pics, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC). The virus normally does not infect humans, but it can occur,
and cases of the disease then speading human-to-human have been documented.
