Tales from the Trail

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has twice been to Mexico in recent weeks, and so when she appeared at two State Department events on Friday with a cough and apparent cold symptoms, reporters asked an obvious question.

 Did the top U.S. diplomat possibly get the new H1N1 swine flu during her trips to Mexico in late March and with U.S. President Barack Obama last month?

“You’ll be happy to know it’s just mild allergies.  She suffers from mild allergies.  That’s all it is,” said State Department spokesman Robert Wood when asked about Clinton’s health.

 Another aide said Clinton has had allergies for a long time. The flu virus has killed up to 176 people in Mexico and since spread to the United States, where there has been one death.

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Photo credit: Reuters/Larry Downing (Clinton testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, April 30)