Here we are, not even a month after the swine flu scare took over every type of media, and in the end not much has happened. To be specific here are the numbers;
Deaths: There have been a total of 63 people that have died from H1N1; 58 of them were in Mexico, three in the US and one in both Canada and Costa Rica. Officials have confirmed that in all of the deaths outside of Mexico the victims had other medical issues.
Confirmed cases: 6,257 in 33 countries, including at least 2,282 in Mexico, 3,352 in 45 U.S. states, and 358 in Canada.
When you look at the numbers and remind yourself how many people there are in the world, even in Mexico alone, you have to ask yourself if this was this something we needed to be so concerned about. The answer is absolutely not! The World Health Organizations should have kept its mouth shut. The fact that this flu travelled as far and as quick as it did is reason enough for health officials to throw resources at it. However, concerning the general public and making us feel that there is a potential for a bubonic plague like disease caused more harm than good.
The country that really took it on the chin was Mexico. Mexico relies heavily on tourism; it makes up a massive percentage of the country's GDP. Over the past month this industry has completely ground to a halt and many countries have gone so far as to issue travel warnings. What the media, the WHO and governments around the world failed to consider while making this flu out to be more than it was, was the potential financial consequences.
Because it was called the swine flu, pork farmers around the world have been affected. Pork prices have dropped as much as 25% in some areas. Can you imagine being a farmer? It can be tough enough to make ends meet and then a totally unrelated disease in another country that has little to do with pigs has driven your business down 25% overnight.
Anyone that is anyway related to the travel industry or the pork business has been affected and in most cases dramatically.
I always assumed the over glorification of the media was the media's fault and not the general public. What was interesting is that during the swine flu crisis web sites like Twitter, Facebook and other social media portals were bombarded with mentions about the virus. In the end most of us can't handle certain types of news and it should remain that way.
