The Mexican Swine Flu is coming and unlike the Asian bird flu this time you need to be very concerned. Many believe that the big flu pandemic is a myth and will only happen when pigs fly. Well the pigs are flying and they are flying over the border from Mexico. And are they ever sick. Here are the facts that should make you want to take appropriate measures.
Fact 1: It is spreading FAST
The first case was seen in Mexico on April 13. The outbreak coincided with the President Barack Obama’s trip to Mexico City on April 16. President Obama was received at Mexico’s anthropology museum in Mexico City by Felipe Solis, a distinguished archaeologist who died the following day from symptoms similar to flu.
That’s right, the archeologist who greeted Obama in Mexico died just four days after the outbreak began!
And just days later cases began popping up all over the US, and is shutting down a school in Queens New York where students just returned from–you guessed it–Mexico. Test now reveal that they likley have the Mexican Swine Flu:
A group of Queens high school students likely brought Mexico’s deadly swine flu epidemic to the city after they went on a wild spring-break party to Cancun earlier this month. Some seniors from St. Francis Prep in Fresh Meadows took the trip over Easter hiatus two weeks ago. Days later, an outbreak of flu-like symptoms erupted at the school, leaving about 200 kids complaining of being ill. Yesterday, city health officials confirmed that eight students “have probable human swine influenza” after testing positive for Influenza A, which officials say causes the swine strain of disease.
Now it is reported that New Zealand college students have returned home from Mexico with suspected swine flu. If your kids just came back from Mexico you might want to stick a thermometer in them to see if they are a carrier.
Fact 2: There is NO CURE
There is no vaccine against the new strain of swine flu. This is a new strain that is a combination of bird, swine and human flu. Since no one has ever had it, there is NO NATURAL IMMUNITY to this strain of influenza.
Fact 3: IT is spreading quickly from human to human, and it is DEADLY
This is a respiratory illness which you can get by being in close proximity to another infected person. At least 20 deaths in Mexico from the disease are confirmed. The strain is a variant of H1N1 swine influenza that has also sickened at least eight people in California, Kansas and Texas. As many as 68 deaths may be attributed to the virus in Mexico, and about 1,000 people in the Mexico City area are showing symptoms of the illness.
Fact 4: There is already a PANIC in Mexico
Mexican President Felipe Calderon has declared an emergency in his country’s swine flu outbreak, giving him powers to order quarantines and suspend public events. Authorities have canceled school at all levels in Mexico City and the state of Mexico until further notice, and the government has suspended most public activities in the area. The Mexican government is distributing breathing masks to curtail the disease’s spread. There is no vaccine against the new strain of swine flu, health authorities said.They are even playing soccer matches in empty soccer stadiums without any fans.
Fact 5: The Drudge Report has gone ballistic
When Drudge reports, people listen, and Matt Drudge has a good sense of what the public and politicians are worried about. And they are worried.
