A man who shook Barack Obama’s hand in Mexico died the next day from symptoms similar to those of swine flu. The White House insisted the President’s health was not in any danger, but he was said to be taking the threat of an epidemic ‘very seriously’. The President’s health advisers were already concerned about his visit south of the border after learning the contagious virus first struck in Mexico City on April 13 - three days before Mr Obama flew in to meet government officials. Their alarm grew after learning that Felipe Solis, director of the National Anthropology Museum, had died from pneumonia.
Mr Solis had taken Mr Obama on a tour of the museum on April 16, a week before his death. Mexican health boss Jose Cordova, however, said Mr Solis was already ill and his death was unrelated to swine flu. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs insisted: ‘The president’s trip to Mexico has not put his health in any danger.’ He added: ‘The incubation period is 24 to 48 hours and we have been back from Mexico for nine days now. The doctors say he was not at risk.’ Mr Obama was in Mexico for less than a day before heading to a ‘Summit of the Americas’ in Trinidad and Tobago.
