I don’t know the answer to this, but it’s certainly a distinct possibility. I suppose it could be rationalized by the all old saw about being safe rather than sorry, but it will interesting to study the real cause of the spread of this flu if it turns out be a very minor outbreak. A warning bell that this could be more of a “Media Flu” just came (probably inadvertently) from the WHO, which announced that, as of Wednesday morning, there were only 7 documented deaths, not 152, from this “pandemic.” That’s out of a current global population approaching 7 billion. Given that number there must be at least 7 documented mortalities from just about anything in that period of time. [Overeating spinach?-ed. Don't tell my mother.] We also know that roughly 36,000 Americans die yearly from the “regular” flu. Slow news day or dangerous health hazard? You tell me. (No, I’m not an idiot. I’m not planning a trip to Mexico in the near future – but I wasn’t anyway.)
And speaking of media flu, here’s a little typical reactionary blather from CNN, regarding “patient zero“: Five-year-old Edgar Hernandez credits ice cream for helping him feel better. Edgar and his family live in La Gloria in the state of Veracruz. His mother blames the virus on a huge, U.S.-owned pig farm in their neighborhood. His mother blames the virus on a huge, U.S.-owned pig farm in their neighborhood.
So, according to CNN, it’s the US’ fault. I’m shocked. (Can’t you just imagine the conversation between the reporter and Mrs. Fernande?. “Pero, senora… no requierdo. La finca de puercos es de los gringos, no?”)
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18 Comments
1. Lightnin' Hopkins:The lemmings do enjoy dramatic pics and video of people wearing surgical masks – remember SARS? They have learned well from their messiah, never let a crisis go to waste. We’re still waiting for the killer bees up here in the Midwest. Any day now, I guess, since we’re reliving the 70’s in every other way.
Speaking of The One (or, “The Aviator”, if you like), he probably sent more palpitating New Yorkers to the doctor than those with the flu after his little $300,000 vanity shoot. “Panic In The Streets” indeed.
Apr 29, 2009 - 8:48 am 2. Xixi:Our country is already infected with Obama flu.
Apr 29, 2009 - 9:01 am 3. David Thomson:“His mother blames the virus on a huge, U.S.-owned pig farm”
Why should I listen to this woman? Does she possess knowledge regarding the flu virus? Is she a scientist? Has she minimally even read a single article on the subject? I doubt it very much.
In the back of their minds, the Drudge Report and other media outlets are trying to attract an audience. They are seeking any excuse to scare the hell out of us. It’s great for the ratings.
Apr 29, 2009 - 9:24 am 4. John Moore:No, it’s not a media flu. The initial reports from Mexico indicated a flu outbreak for which nobody had immunity and with a case fatality rate much higher than the 1918 Spanish Flu.
Only today do we get data that indicates it may be far more mild.
But it is still a matter of serious concern:
1) If the epidemic does not die out, and has the virulence of an ordinary flu, it will still kill lots of people (tens of thousands of Americans)
2) We don’t have a vaccine for it yet
3) It could easily mutate to something as bad as the initial reports had it.
It is common, early in these events, to have a lot of uncertainty. SARS also looked sort of like this at the start, and it was just barely contained. Had it not been, we would have had millions of deaths.
Apr 29, 2009 - 11:13 am 5. Mel D:Couldn’t agree more that tiny percentages and numbers are all that matter, Roger. That’s exactly why the 9/11 deaths amount to tiny percentages and numbers too. We lost 3000 people in the attacks. That’s only 3000 out of our national population of about 300 Million. Tobacco kills 400,000 Americans every year. Drunk drivers kill 10s of thousands every year on our highways. Yes, our obsession with the 9/11 attacks was and still is hysteria at its finest. Yet, we had a yahoo from Texas in the White House at the time and he got so worked up over just 3000 deaths out of 300,000,000 that he launched a war that has now killed 4,200 soldiers, wounded over 40,000 and killed hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis. Can you believe someone would be so worked up over nothing but very small percentage losses? 9/11’s dead account for a mere .001% of our population. Go figure. Flu, schmuu!
Apr 29, 2009 - 12:21 pm 6. Anita Hope:We are now seeing further commitment of funds to multiple drug companies,that
Apr 29, 2009 - 2:01 pm 7. mojo:are so wealthy from the over charging of all American’s, to start new studies concerning a virus that has been known about for years. We must ask the question why they do not have in their labs an anti swine vaccine by this time?
Concerning the mother and her statement regarding the pig farm, casting blame on others is an old ploy to keep your own house from being blamed and this might be another media suggested statement.
As serious as this is it con be quaranteened from monumental spreading if we all start cleaning up our surroundings inside our homes and outside our home & neighborhoods. Fear is the greatest cause of Panic…..
Gabacho, not gringo.
Apr 29, 2009 - 2:04 pm 8. Lightnin' Hopkins:Mel D:
That Pearl Harbor thingy was pretty lame too, huh? Either way, I’m sure we deserved it, right?
Apr 29, 2009 - 2:41 pm 9. Roger L Simon:Por su puesto, mojo…. gabacho es bastante peor.
Apr 29, 2009 - 2:43 pm 10. David Thomson:“9/11’s dead account for a mere .001% of our population.”
That is indeed true so far in the United States. These monsters, however, have already murdered millions throughout the rest of the world. Our Islamic nihilistic foes also wish to dramatically increase those numbers within our own country—and will do so if we refuse to fight them to the death.
Apr 29, 2009 - 4:17 pm 11. Wellspring:I totally agree with John Moore on this.
First, a pandemic can turn into a national catastrophe very, very quickly (especially when there’s lots of undetected cases). The CDC needs to be on a hair trigger with this, and sometimes what looks like a false alarm is a real deal that was quickly contained. There’s the “boy who cried wolf” effect, but I think that’s better than letting a threat get through. Disease spreads exponentially– the difference between dozens of cases and thousands is only a couple iterations.
Second, fizzles (as this one seems to be) are an important prep for a biological warfare terrorist attack. A desperately needed wakeup call– the Obama administration proved to be woefully unprepared for it. As bad as some terrorist strike scenarios are, biowarfare is the worst of all– even worse than a nuclear attack. And it’s alot easier to develop and execute a bio capability than a nuclear one.
See former Senator Sam Nunn’s Dark Winter exercise. He was pushing on terrorist issues for years before 9/11. Dark Winter simulated a small-pox attack executed by having low-tech terrorists put the disease in mayonnaise jars and throwing them into subway tunnels. After 30 simulated days, the simulation ended with 10 million dead, thirty million more infected, and the disease still spreading uncontrollably. I read through the assumptions and mechanisms of the simulation, and they don’t see at all far-fetched.
Al Qaeda was known to have been working on a biological capability when President Bush invaded Afghanistan. We have no idea if they’ve been able to re-create it.
Apr 30, 2009 - 2:45 am 12. Wellspring:Sorry update: refreshing my memory after I posted (I hadn’t read through it in years) the number was 1 million dead, 3 million infected. (only)
Apr 30, 2009 - 2:49 am 13. Deborah:In the meantime, my husband worked in the Rio Grande Valley all last week, and is now in his third day of exhibiting flu symptoms (and I don’t feel so good either). He could have skipped this trip to the valley if he’d known there was problem. So while you guys debate whether swine flu has been over-hyped, I’m watching my husband like a hawk.
Apr 30, 2009 - 6:42 am 14. jungus:Flu is flu, and some people will be mortally susceptible to it. But this: “His mother blames the virus on a huge, U.S.-owned pig farm”. Whatever! I will bet you the pigs did not come from any farther than her own country. Perhaps the flue came along with the American financing?
And as for the “low” numbers in the 9/11 attacks:
Apr 30, 2009 - 7:37 am 15. Minerva:1. 3000 is still more than 7
2. Those are attacks. Someone chose to kill us in anger. The flu is an indiscriminate force of nature. Or maybe you get just as mad at God for rain as your neighbor spraying you with the garden hose?
As John Batchelor always cautions: The first three reports are WRONG.
Apr 30, 2009 - 8:35 am 16. Jannymae:“Only today do we get data that indicates it may be far more mild.”
This is far from true. We have known for several days now that this was not as severe as they had first thought.
The comparisons between this flu (any flu) and the 9/11 deaths are ludicrous. First, those were deliberate acts of violence against our people. Second, there are precautions that can be taken to avoid getting the flu. They should be taken, but precautions are different than panic.
We should not be made to panic over something that supposedly can become a “pandemic” but hasn’t shown any indication that it will.
Apr 30, 2009 - 9:09 am 17. tim maguire:jungus, I would add to the 9/11 numbers (and wittingly participate in Mel’s petty and shameless thread hijack) that 3,000 deaths is hardly a full tally of the damage done. 100,000 people lost their jobs, thousands lost their homes, billions of dollars in real estate were destroyed, the economy shook and it was all done intentionally.
Apr 30, 2009 - 10:16 am 18. Alex Bensky:I’m surprised she’s blaming the United States when everyone knows the swine flu responsibility is Israel’s. If the Israelis would only withdraw from the West Bank this wouldn’t be happening.
I say that because as far as I can tell everything wrong with the world is a result of Israeli intransigence.
Apr 30, 2009 - 4:24 pm