Deadly swine flu virus in Mexico

[TightyWhitey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by heidi_lk As far as I understand the gov of Canada did not ban flights, but all the tour companies did. So of course we were cancelled. But I do know that American operators in Canada were still flying to Mexico. Too bad our company wouldnt refend our money so we could rebook with them. Oh well, I have taken my lemons and made a trip to Cuba. I can't believe I replanned a wedding in 4 days!!!! I got everyone but 2 guests rebooked, a wedding date, and recently just scored a photographer, which I hear is not an easy feat in Cuba!!!! We leave in 10 days!!!!!!!!! Can't believe its actually working out (knock on wood, knock on wood, knock on wood

I agree. From what I understand, there was no ban from the Canadian government. Instead, Public Health Agency Canada issued a travel advisory, urging travellers to postpone "elective or non-essential travel to Mexico until further notice."

What I find really hypocritical is Air Canada is STILL flying into Mexico City.

[Carolyn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TightyWhitey I agree. From what I understand, there was no ban from the Canadian government. Instead, Public Health Agency Canada issued a travel advisory, urging travellers to postpone "elective or non-essential travel to Mexico until further notice." What I find really hypocritical is Air Canada is STILL flying into Mexico City.

I think that is so funny too. I did loose my Aunt and Uncle who were flying on Air Canada so they will not be attending now but if they wanted to go to Mexico city they can.... Air Canada refunded there money. Life goes on and so will our wedding.

[JaimeLynne]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jessica&Adam Hello! I have been stalking this thread, reading every day but not posting. Things have been so up and down and stressful, I have basically just been waiting and seeing what would happen next. Thank GOD things have turned around (at least a little, for now). Last week was the worst week ever - it was like a roller coaster ride! One moment I thought ok, this will all be fine, and the next I was crying at my desk b/c I'm so worried. I had about 11 guests in total that were considering cancelling (one was my MOH, the other a bridesmaid). It looks like only 3 of them actually did/will - none in my wedding party, thank goodness. I'm so thankful to have you girls to turn to in the unsure time...thanks for all the girls who posted from Mexico reassuring us that everything is fine there...that has really helped me through these past weeks. So, as it stands (and we have no Plan B or plans of changing), we are still going ahead with our wedding on May 24 in Cancun. We leave on the 20th (two weeks away now!) and FI and I cannot wait!!!!! It is so nice to be able to go stress now about every other last minute wedding detail I haven't done yet (there are unfortunately a LOT of them), and not this stupid H1N1 Flu and freaking out about my guests. Yesterday I was feeling so confident I went ahead and made all my payments - snorkeling excursion, hotel, rehearsal dinner, shuttle to the hotel, etc. Things are certainly looking up! Stay strong girls, we will ALL get through this. I know its hard to tell in times like this, but I believe that everything does happen for a reason.

Another date twin, and fellow TX bride!

Glad to hear you're going through with it! We leave the 19th, just one day before you!! We'll be on opposite sides of the country tho

Have a blast!!! I know I will!

[HotTamale]

Good afternoon, girls! I just received the below email from my wedding coordinator - very informative. I also attached the Word version for reference.

 

Tourism remains active in Cancun and Puerto Morelos

 

Cancun, Quintana Roo, May 6th, 2009. Despite the fact of the influenza A (H1N1) outbreak that Mexico is facing and has directly impacted the tourism industry nationwide, it is important to point out that the activity in this important destination remains active, as follows:

 

The tourism industry, including hotels, restaurants, theme parks, shopping centers, city transportation and marinas, are implementing sanitary measures in order to avoid any possible transmission of this virus.

 

The Quintana Roo Secretary of Tourism, Sara Latife Ruiz Chavez, informed that the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) authorized the reopening of the archaeological sites in Quintana Roo, as well as in the rest of Mexico.

 

Hotels such as the domestic chain Real Resorts are reinforcing their hygienic measures by setting alcohol-based hand cleaners in all the hotel areas, including their suites.

 

Theme parks like Xcaret and Xel-Há remain open and with normal operations. They have confirmed that they will keep their full staff, through a joint agreement with their 2,300 employees.

 

Dolphin Discovery Group continues operating without any change within their properties in Isla Mujeres, Puerto Aventuras and Cozumel, as well as Aquatours Marina and Garrafon Park. Their staff will continue working as usual.

 

Río Secreto and Alltournative reported their regular operations.

The Mexican Caribbean Golf Association has confirmed the regular operation of its twelve associates, including their brand-new partner Bahía Príncipe Riviera Maya Residencial Golf Resort, which will open next August. This Association has confirmed as well that Pok-ta-Pok Golf Course will invest an important amount of money in order to improve both, the course and the equipment.

 

Restaurants such as Grill 14, Crab House, Carlos’n Charlie’s, Mamá Roma y El Shrimp Bucket are open and operation under extreme hygienic measures, and offering attractive promotions for the upcoming Mother’s Day.

 

Benito Juarez City Hall has announced that starting May 7th, bars, nightclubs and movie theaters within Cancun and Puerto Morelos will open their doors, at 40% of their capacity, accordingly to the Mexico’s Ministry of Health recommendations.

 

The 3rd King Polo Cup will take place as planned on May 9th, 10th, 15th and 16th at El Rey Polo Country Club, in Puerto Morelos.

 

Fishing activities will also remain as programmed, with the 20th Puerto Morelos Sports Fishing Tournament, on May 29th to 31st, with an exciting closing ceremony on June the 1st.

 

The Mexican Baseball Leage has announced the restoration of the matches, so the Quintana Roo’s Tigers will continue playing as usual.

 

Finally, the trade and the educational activities in the Mexican Caribbean go back to normal, since high schools and universities will go back to classes starting Thursday May 7th, and elementary and kindergarten on Monday May 11th.

 

# # #

 

Cancun Convention and Visitors Bureau Cancun.travel | The Cancun Convention & Visitors Bureau Website

 

Contact:

 

 

 

Ms. Erika Mitzunaga, Ms. Erandeni Abundis

 

PR Manager Latin America and Europe PR Manager North America and Asia

 

 

 

+52 (99 881 27 59 +52 (99 881 27 57

 

 

Playa Cancun Porto Morelos Tulum.doc

[Chanti]

I'm so frustrated!!! Tried being optimistic but that didn't work!!!

 

http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t42186

 

$#*?% Transat!!! This may affect many more Canadian brides!!!

[JaimeLynne]

Hi ladies,

 

Ok - this is a VERY long letter from my Integrative Medical Doctor, Dr. Jerry Tennant, in response to all the phone calls they are receiving at their office. (If you want the references, I can give them to you - they're just very lengthy to list here).

 

Quote:

Swine Flu—What Should I Do?   Jerry Tennant, MD   April 30, 2009   The news media run the swine flu epidemic as its lead story. Everyone from the Director of the World Health Organization to President Obama is warning of the dire consequences of swine flu. Our office is getting calls and emails about what to do. So what are the facts?   Indeed, there have been pandemics in the past. The best known are the bubonic plague between 1339 and 1351 AD and the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918. However, there have been dire warnings of pandemics that never happened. Many remember the swine flu disaster of 1976 when the government killed dozens and injured hundreds with harmful vaccines while few died from the “eminent pandemicâ€. President Ford was gearing up to force vaccination on the entire population when the vaccine began to create havoc. Claims of over $1.3 billion came from victims of the vaccine that caused severe paralysis, Guillain-Barre Syndrome, and death of 25. So is the fiasco of 1976 repeating itself or is this for real? The call for mandatory vaccination is being discussed again—as soon as a vaccine can be prepared. One thing different now is that laws have been passed so those damaged by vaccines cannot sue the vaccine makers!   What is new about this virus is that it has a mixture of DNA from animals, birds, and humans! Normally viruses are species specific. Viruses that cause illnesses in hogs can rarely be transmitted to humans, but that virus usually cannot be transmitted human-to-human. Although some express confusion about how this virus could have mutated in a way that a hog virus and a bird virus could mix with a human virus and cause human to human transfer, it is known that mixing of viral DNA has been done in laboratories. Whether that is what happened in this current virus is not clear. Is this virus a natural mutation or was it made in a laboratory and somehow got into the population? Was it simply released in Mexico and spread from there? There is reason to wonder. Earlier this year, Baxter flu vaccines contaminated with H5N1 - otherwise known as the human form of avian flu, one of the most deadly biological weapons on earth with a 60% kill rate - were received by labs in the Czech Republic, Germany, and Slovenia. It was first given to animals and killed all that received it! The H5N1 virus on its own has killed hundreds of people, but it is less airborne and more restricted in the ease with which it can spread. However, when combined with seasonal flu viruses, which, as everyone knows, are super-airborne and easily spread, the effect is a potent, super-airbone, super-deadly biological weapon.   “In 1970 the discovery of a cell enzyme, called “reverse transcriptase†by Howard Temin and David Baltimore, allowed molecular biologists to detect so-called retroviruses in some animal cancers. It was soon recognized that retroviruses could be found normally in the genes of many animal cells, and that scientists could manipulate these viruses to produce detrimental effects on the immune system. In “species jumping†laboratory experiments, many viruses were transferred between different animal species and were adapted to human cells.   The earliest AIDS cases in America can be clearly traced back to the time period when the hepatitis B experiment began at the New York Blood Centre. The Centre began injecting gay men with multiple doses of the experimental vaccine in November 1978. The inoculations ended in October 1979, less than two years before the official start of the epidemic. The hepatitis B experiment, which inoculated over 1,000 healthy gay men in 1978 in New York, was a huge success with 96% of the men developing antibodies again the hepatitis virus. This high rate of success could not have been achieved if the men were immuno-suppressed, because immuno-suppressed people do not easily form antibodies to the vaccine. The experiment was followed by similar hepatitis B experiments using gay men in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Denver and St. Louis, beginning in March 1980 and ending in October 1981, the same year the epidemic became official.†<http://www.newdawnmagazine.com/Article/The_Secret_Origins_of_AIDS.html> The Secret Origins of AIDS: Facts, Fallacies & Conspiracy Theories   Except for the fact that the DNA of this virus is suspect, we should not expect to have an epidemic that kills many people. One of the reasons is that viruses usually do n0t kill people—they just make you feel bad. What killed the majority of people in 1918 was that the flu allowed people to get bacterial pneumonia from Streptococcus. That is what kills you. We are much better able to deal with bacterial pneumonia now than they were in 1918.   However, the genetically altered viruses like the AIDS virus have killed many. That is the reason for current concerns.   In 1897, the German company Bayer patented aspirin. Their patent expired in 1917, just at the end of World War I. Many of the returning American soldiers brought it back to their families. It was the first time that there had been widespread use of aspirin with the flu. It is known that when a virus attaches to a cell, it cannot duplicate if there is a fever, but it will make a million copies of itself if the temperature is low. Thus lowering temperature with drugs allows viruses to multiply! It is also known that aspirin and drugs like it suppress the immune system making it easier for bacteria to grow. This makes it easier for pneumonia to occur. It is not clear how much aspirin contributed to the spread of the 1918 flu. A current problem is that the antiviral drugs, Tamiflu® and Relenza® lower body temperature. It is not uncommon to see people get the flu and start one of these drugs. They feel better. Then a week later, they have pneumonia.   Since 2003, there have been multiple warnings that the H5N1 bird flu virus would kill millions of people. Only 257 people are known to have died from the bird flu! Over 1,000,000 people get malaria every year, but there are no dire warnings from the World Health Organization or President Obama about malaria!   Can there be other reasons that we are being frightened about a flu pandemic? The Bush administration bought $1.4 billion of Tamiflu® “to combat the bird fluâ€. The Obama administration wants to buy enough to treat 25% of the American population. Other governments are stockpiling it as well. This is despite the fact that Tamiflu® doesn’t work for the bird flu and is not likely to work for the swine flu either. “After following WHO protocols in treating 41 victims of the H5N1 bird flu virus (19% of the worldwide cases of bird flu reported to date), Nguyen Tuong Van, MD, who runs the intensive care unit of the Center for Tropical Diseases in Hanoi, Vietnam concluded that Tamiflu®, the drug most widely stockpiled around the world to combat a potential bird flu pandemic, is "uselessâ€. (Wikipedia) Thus, the American taxpayers paid billions of dollars for a drug to treat about 100 cases per year of the bird flu. Someone made a lot of money from a drug that does not work for an epidemic that never happened. They are making even more money this year. If only we were using that money for something useful like treating malaria!   So what if this new virus does cause widespread flu? What if I am wrong about this being history repeating itself? What should you do?   There are several simple steps you can take to help prevent yourself from getting colds and the flu.   1. Vitamin D is made when you expose significant amounts of your skin to the sun. It takes about 20 minutes a day to make what you need. The vitamin D blocks the sites on cells where viruses normally attach. Thus taking vitamin D3 in 2000 to 5000 international units per day significantly reduces your chances of getting a viral infection. It is interesting to note that “flu season†is during the cold months when you do not expose your skin to the sun. It is also interesting that the bubonic plague of the 1340’s was also known as the “Little Ice Age†because of unusually cold temperatures in Europe. The 1918 flu epidemic occurred in the winter. You can do a blood test to see if your vitamin D levels are low, but in my practice, I have never seen a normal test in someone who was not taking supplements.     2. Iodine kills all single-celled organisms and viruses. They can never become resistant to it. If you have enough, you body will put 30 times as much iodine in the parts of the body exposed to the outside world as it has in the blood. This envelopes you in a shield of protective iodine to keep you from getting infections. You should take 12.5 mg of iodine per day. The brands are iThroid®(RLC Labs) and Iodoral®.     3. Vitamin C is important to keep the body working correctly. The only species that cannot make their own vitamin C are humans, guinea pigs and primates. You need about 5000 mg of powdered vitamin C or 1000 mg if taken with phosphatidyl choline. The book Curing the Incurable, Vitamin C and Infectious Disease and Toxins by Thomas Levy, MD looks at 1200 medical articles about killing infections with vitamin C. We have been successful in curing even penicillin-resistant staph (MRSA) with IV vitamin C.     4. Nano-particles of silver kills microorganisms efficiently, even resistant ones like MRSA and pseudomonas. Take one teaspoonful, three times a day. I use it when I need an antibiotic, not every day.       5. Essential oils are extracted from plants or manufactured in a lab. The natural ones are therapeutic. The manufactured ones smell nice but have no health benefits. About 95% of those sold in the US have no effect. However, the pure essential oils are very powerful. The spices are particularly great at killing microorganisms. It is interesting that the spice traders did not get the bubonic plague. Make a tea with a few drops of therapeutic cinnamon and clove oil mixed with a tablespoon of coconut oil and a tablespoon of raw, local honey.     6. Methylene blue has been used for years to kill viruses in our blood supply. See the references below. Professor Charles McWilliams says, “Here's the down and simple: tell you viral patients to get unadulterated 3% hydrogen peroxide, like that found in valu-mart or dollar stores. The cheaper the better. Also, get a one-dollar bottle of methylene blue. If not available at the drug store, go to the pet shop for the same. As a tonic, four times daily: a full glass of water, 1 tablespoon of H2O2, and a few drops of methylene blue. Drink!†Your tongue and urine will be blue, but that is better than a few days in bed with the flu.   7. I also use the Tennant Biomodulator • to be sure the voltage in every organ is normal. It is hard to have infections if voltage (and thus oxygen levels) is normal.     8. Wash your hands and clothing frequently.       These things are easy and inexpensive. Most are in stock in our office. In the unlikely event the flu spreads, you will have taken precautions to keep from getting it or at least shortening its course. I have put more reading material and references below if your want more information.   Be Well!   Jerry Tennant, MD, MD(H), DNM [https://app.icontact.com/icp/loadima...5d/image/jpeg] 9901 Valley Ranch Parkway East Suite 1015 Irving, TX 75063 Phone 972-580-1156 Fax 972-580-0715 [email protected]<mailto:jt...ns titute.com>

[Married_In_Maui]

Hey guys, just to update, we had to switch our desitination from Cancun to Maui, b/c along with not wanting to take 2 small children to Mexico with a swine flu outbreak, our travel agency canceled all their charter flights to Mexico for the month of May. Anyway, after emailing all the vendors to try to recoop some of the money, I got an email from Vanessa Jaimes (florist) that I thought was quite interesting so I thought I would share.

So here it is:

 

HOLA KIM

I AM SO SORRY FOR DELAYED RESPONSE, WE´VE BEEN VERY BUSY WITH ALL THIS SITUATION.

BUT SO FAR CANCUN IS A SAFE PLACE AND WE ARE SO UPSET ON HOW OUR GOVERNMENT MAKE SUCH A BIG DEAL ABOUT THIS.

WE HAD OVER 100 DEADS LAST YEAR BEACUSE THE SWINE FLU AND NOBODY TELL ANYTHING. NOW THAT WE HAVE SELECTIONS IN 2 MORE MONTHS

AND AFTER OUR ECONOMY IS GOING DOWN ALL OVER THE COUNTRY, THEY MAKE ALL THESE BAD RECOMMENDATIONS TO COME TO MEXICO.

SO FAR WE JUST HAVE 3 WEDDINGS CANCELLED LAST WEEKEND, THIS WEEKEND WE HAVE 3 MORE AND THEY STILL COMING, BUT IF YOUR CLIENTS WANT TO STAY IN THE STATES, WE WILL UNDERSTAND.

UNFORTUNATELY I DID SENT A DEPOSIT TO MY SUPPLIER LIKE A WEEK AGO, BUT WE JUST SENT $90 USD, SO I CAN GIVE YOU THE REST, PLEASE SEND ME YOUR BANK ACCOUNT AND I WILL LET YOU KNOW WHEN WE MAKE THE DEPOSIT.

IF YOUR CLIENTS CHANGE THEIR MINDS ALSO LET ME KNOW RIGHT AWAY TO HOLD THIS DEPOSIT AND USE IT FOR YOUR WEDDING.

SORRY FOR DELAYED RESPONSE BY THE WAY.

KIND REGARDS

 

So anyway, things look fine in Cancun & as we suspected, the media appears to have blown this whole thing out of proportion. Good luck to you ladies that were able to keep your weddings in Meixco. I was so excited to go back to Cancun, but Maui is just as exciting I suppose.

[hanna]

YESSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My fiance's emergency waiver with the Coast Guard just got approved so we are going to be allowed to travel to Mexico in 3 weeks for our June 5 wedding. Cannot tell you how relieved we are.. Now, just need the ban to be lifted for 5 other guests who are in the CG (3 are groomsmen).. but just so happy to know we can move forward with our Mexico plans! Can't have a wedding without a groom... Wowza, that was a rough couple of weeks! Thanks for all of your support ladies!

[cougs]

hanna that's great! i agree, this is one of those cases where the groom is kinda important, LOL!

[kimrae99]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hanna YESSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My fiance's emergency waiver with the Coast Guard just got approved so we are going to be allowed to travel to Mexico in 3 weeks for our June 5 wedding. Cannot tell you how relieved we are.. Now, just need the ban to be lifted for 5 other guests who are in the CG (3 are groomsmen).. but just so happy to know we can move forward with our Mexico plans! Can't have a wedding without a groom... Wowza, that was a rough couple of weeks! Thanks for all of your support ladies!

YAY!!!! I'm so glad for you!!!!!