US anti-terror controls delayed swine flu response

Scary report from the Financial Times on the Swine flu. I now appears that a huge delay in identifying the disease had taken place, due to restrictions the USA put into place after 9-11.

US anti-terror controls delayed swine flu response

Tough US import controls on biological materials, introduced after the September 11 2001 attacks, hindered the rapid identification of the H1N1 virus because samples from infected Mexican patients had to be sent to Canada for analysis instead of the US.

Health officials said the detour highlighted how bureaucratic attempts to protect the US from terrorist attacks had backfired. Confirmation of the decision, which delayed the international response to the outbreak, added to reports of hurdles to cross-border co-operation in the fight against the latest infectious disease, health officials said