John Merino (1967 – September 6, 2009) was an

Ecuadorian Ecuadorians ( es, ecuatorianos) are people identified with the South American country of Ecuador. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Ecuadorians, several (or all) of these connections exist and are colle ...

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

and the head of security for

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Rafael Correa Rafael Vicente Correa Delgado (; born 6 April 1963), known as Rafael Correa, is an Ecuadorian politician and economist who served as President of Ecuador from 2007 to 2017. The leader of the PAIS Alliance political movement from its foundation ...

. After co-ordinating security for such events as the

Union of South American Nations The Union of South American Nations (USAN; es, links=no, Unión de Naciones Suramericanas, UNASUR; pt, links=no, União de Nações Sul-Americanas, UNASUL; nl, links=no, Unie van Zuid-Amerikaanse Naties, UZAN; French: ''Union des nations s ...

and the independent bicentennial celebrations, Merino was promoted to security chief of Presidential security a few days before the inauguration for Rafael Correa’s second term. On August 10, 2009 Merino was admitted to Quito’s military hospital with flu conditions. Merino was admitted to the ICU ward when it was discovered he was suffering from the

H1N1 virus In virology, influenza A virus subtype H1N1 (A/H1N1) is a subtype of influenza A virus. Major outbreaks of H1N1 strains in humans include the Spanish flu, the 1977 Russian flu pandemic and the 2009 swine flu pandemic. It is an orthomyxovirus ...

. Merino died at the age of 42 on September 6 after spending 27 days in hospital.John Merino died of A/H1N1 flu
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Merino, John 1967 births 2009 deaths Ecuadorian military personnel Deaths from influenza