WASHINGTON – A security aide helping with arrangements during President Barack Obama's recent trip to Mexico became sick with flu-like symptoms and three members of his family later contracted probable swine flu, the White House said Thursday.
The disclosure from press secretary Robert Gibbs comes days after the White House played down risks to the U.S. delegation on the two-day trip that started April 16. Gibbs remained steadfast that the president was never at risk of contracting the flu, which has quickly spread across the globe.
The employee, who was not named by the White House, is an aide to Energy Secretary Steven Chu and helped plan security for part of the administration's Mexico trip.
"This individual never flew on Air Force One," Gibbs said. "He was asked specifically if he ever came within 6 feet of the president, and the answer to that was no."
The aide arrived in Mexico on April 13, Gibbs said, and became ill on April 16. He developed a fever on April 17, the day Obama left Mexico for the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago. The person in question flew back commercially to Dulles on a United flight on April 18; Gibbs had no details yet on whether people on that flight have been notified.
"Obviously we'll do everything in our power to ensure that what can be done to alert them will be done," he said.
Ten other people who were on the presidential trip to Mexico saw the White House doctor afterward for symptoms of illness. All were tested and found not to have swine flu, Gibbs said.
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