Loan Adviser

New York appoints new head of health in flu outbreak

NEW YORK (Reuters) – New York pediatrician and epidemiologist appointed Thomas Farley of Louisiana as the new head of the Department of Health, amid a new outbreak of H1N1 influenza that caused death of a teacher in the city on Sunday.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg chose to replace Farley Thomas Frieden, who was elected last week by President Barack Obama as head of the Centers for Disease Control and Disease Prevention United States.

Farley, who will assume his new post in June, has served as top adviser Frieden since 2007 and helped in implementing the mandate of the city to the chain restaurants to publish caloric information on their menus.

Calling his new job as the best job in the field of public health, Farley said that the H1N1 influenza, also known as swine flu, would be his top priority, while also continue Frieden's efforts to reduce obesity and cigarette consumption.

There is much we can do to make healthy choices easier for people, Farley said in a press conference.

Under the leadership of Bloomberg and Frieden, New York banned smoking in bars and stopped the use of artificial saturated fat cooking in restaurants. Saturated fats clog arteries and increase the risk of heart disease.

On Sunday, the city of New York recorded its first death associated with influenza H1N1. Mitchell Wiener, 55, was the principal adviser to one of several public schools that have had to close due to influenza.

(Reporting by Edith Honan; published in Spanish by Gabriela Donoso )