This article discusses the Swine Flu outbreak of 2009, specifically in Cameron County, Texas, which is on the US–Mexico border at the mouth of the Rio Grande. Wilson et al. evaluate the effectiveness of ILI (influenza-like illness) and RIDT (rapid influenza diagnostic tests) in estimating the course of S-OIV (swine-origin influenza A
virus) cases
at various time periods during an outbreak. This article also comments on how to take advantage of ILI and RIDTs as a mean to keep track of the outbreak to inform us in the absence of confirmed S-OIV results, since it could take more than six weeks to get confirmed test results back.
This map portrays the area discussed in the study, showing the county's proximity, specifically the city Brownsville's proximity, to the suspected origin of the outbreak, La Gloria, Veracruz.
This article and the research therein may be useful in understanding the nature of S-OIV
outbreaks in space and time, ultimately informing real-time
intervention and control such that outbreak impacts are minimized.
Wilson, J. G., Ballou, J., Yan, C., Fisher-Hoch, S. P., Reininger, B., Gay, J., ... & Lopez, L. (2010). Utilizing spatiotemporal analysis of influenza-like illness and rapid tests to focus swine-origin influenza virus intervention. Health & place, 16(6), 1230-1239.
Could it be possible that the US Government, medical physicians, and medical researchers have been making strides to better the understanding and prevent such rapid exposure to mosquito born viruses like the Zika virus that also originated in Latin America?
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