Swine Flu in Kuwait
I know this topic is not something that really fits with my last couple of posts. But I think I should get out of my regularly emotional posts and talk about something more factual. I have been reading somethings that are going on in Kuwait and really it seems to be a pretty good place to be if you are deployed, well in contrast to places like Iraq or Afghanistan. But Kuwait has a new potential threat to the troops and that threat is the Swine Flu or H1N1. In an article from Reuters http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE54M1G720090524 it is said that 18 soldiers have been confirmed to have the virus. This was the first case of the swine flu in the Gulf Arab region. Now granted this actually happened in 2009, but because the spread of the swine flu is so feared it is still relevant to soldiers there today. According to the article the soldiers that were initially infected had brought the virus with them. They were quarantined and were treated. thankfully the virus is said not to have passed on to the population.
So what does the swine flu have to do with soldiers now? Well that means that all the soldiers must be vaccinated for H1N1. Also when entering Kuwait all soldiers must go through a screening to ensure that they do not have the virus. Since the virus is very fast spreading. According to USA Today http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2009-05-24-swineflu-troops_N.htm there have been 12,022 cases and 86 deaths in 42 countries. Thankfully though Kuwait has taken measures to control the spread of swine flu and from the news indicated there hasn’t been a major outbreak.
