Friday, May 01, 2009

Pandemic? What pandemic?

Is the swine flu pandemic, announced just last week with so much fanfare and hyperbole, nothing more than an over-hyped, panicy response to case of too much time on cable news channels and not enough news to fill it?

Could be.

Swine flu may be less potent than first feared
The swine flu outbreak that has alarmed the world for a week now appears less ominous, with the virus showing little staying power in the hardest-hit cities and scientists suggesting it lacks the genetic fortitude of past killer bugs.


The gist of the story is that there aren't as many dead as earlier reported, the kids in the New York City private school were about the only ones who got sick in the city and the school will be reopening on Monday. And as far as Mexico City is concerned? Very, very few of the relatives of the folks who caught the flu haven't been infected.

In New York City, which has the most confirmed swine flu cases in the U.S. with 49, swine flu has not spread far beyond cases linked to one Catholic school. In Mexico, the epicenter of the outbreak, very few relatives of flu victims seem to have caught it.

A flu expert said he sees no reason to believe the virus is particularly lethal. And a federal scientist said the germ's genetic makeup lacks some traits seen in the deadly 1918 flu pandemic strain and the more recent killer bird flu.



Doesn't sound like a very potent bug at all. I've a feeling that a week from now, when much of the hype is over and the swine flu---excuse me H1N1---has been put on the back burner, there are going to be an awful lot of folks who feel like the weatherman sent to a sea wall to witness the fury and destruction of a hurricane only to discover there's not much more than a stiff breeze blowing.

Or perhaps it was nothing more than a distraction to prevent a truly close look at Obama's "accomplishments" during his first 100 days in office.

(h/t Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit)


UPDATE: Saturday evening 8:50 PM:


Sounding more and more like the boy who cried wolf....or Chicken Little.

1 comment:

Rev. Paul said...

I believe you nailed it, sir!