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(AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
SALT LAKE CITY -- The new Mexican consul in Salt Lake City is trying to ease worries about the swine flu outbreak in his country. In a press conference Tuesday, he addressed criticism his country has not been proactive in getting information out.
Ignacio Rios Navarro has been in Utah just 15 days for his new assignment as Mexican Consul in Utah. Friday's press conference was meant to introduce Navarro to Utahns, but many of the questions he was asked had to do with how his country is handling the swine flu outbreak.
There's been criticism that Mexico hasn't yet determined how the flu started or how it spread. Some are critical that the country still has not given medicine to the families of those who have died.
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At least seven people were in U.S. hospitals with swine flu Tuesday as the number of cases nationwide rose to 64 and a federal health official warned that deaths were likely.To that, Navarro says his country is doing the best it can. "The Mexican government was thinking that this influence or crisis in Mexico would be pandemonium, but now, I think everything has showed that we've been able to control everything and we hope that soon it will resolve the situation," he said.
KSL News also asked the Mexican Consul if he thought the outbreak might be detrimental for his country's economy.
"Not at all. Not at all," Navarro said. "There will be some effects in the social situation of the people, but not in the economic organization of the country."
Health officials in Mexico may be getting closer to determining where the Swine Flu originated, but there are approximately 2,000 suspected cases in Mexico and 152 suspected deaths, though only 20 of those are confirmed to be the result of the swine flu.
According to the latest update by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in the United States there are 64 confirmed cases; so far, none in Utah.
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Story compiled with contributions from Courtney Orton and Andrew Adams.
