In a couple of previous blogs I wrote about Mexico’s drug war and increasing number of kidnappings and the possible effects on American retirees. Now there is another danger, swine flu.

Apparently Mexico has become the epicenter of this epidemic. The source of the disease was traced to a hog farm in the eastern state of Vera Cruz. At present there are over two thousand people with the disease and almost 200 deaths have been reported. Perhaps the death toll and spread of the disease can be imputed to the the country’s poor sanitary conditions. For example, there is virtually no place in the country you can drink tap water.  This causes many vulnerable tourists to come down with the famous “Montezuma’s Revenge” which is a form of diarrhea. A wife of a friend of mine came down with Shigella which is closely related to Salmonella  while traveling in Mexico. She almost died.

Mexico City is one of the most polluted cities in the world.  Ten thousand (10,000) tons of contaminants fall over the city daily. Tourists have been know to become ill by just breathing the air.

Recommendations to prevent being infected by swine infection by the virus consist of the standard personal precautions against influenza. This includes frequent washing of hands with soap and water or with alcohol-based hand sanitizers, especially after being out in public. People should avoid touching their mouth, nose or eyes with their hands unless they’ve washed their hands. If people do cough, they should either cough into a tissue and throw it in the garbage immediately, cough into their elbow, or, if they cough in their hand, they should wash their hands immediately. Vaccines that are effective against the current strain are being developed. Al of this may be hard because of Mexico’s poor sanitary conditions.

Fortunately, no cases of this disease have been reported in Costa Rica. The country is much cleaner than Mexico and its tap water is not contaminated. Cases of food poisoning and dysentery are very rare among retired people and tourists here. This is one more reason to chose Costa Rica over Mexico for retirement.