PLAGUE! Wash those hands people

[Morkulv]

Glad I live on the other side of the ocean.

That won't save you now, Mork. AHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Can pigs swim?

[Lupin]

Glad I live on the other side of the ocean.

That won't save you now, Mork. AHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Can pigs swim?

No, but humans can fly.

[Morkulv]

Can pigs swim?

No, but humans can fly.

Time to get out my handy anti-aircraft gun then.

[Figarou]

No, but humans can fly.

We can?

*flaps arms*

Woo!! I'm flying!!

[Morkulv]

Haha I was waiting for that joke.

[vrikasatma]

Glad I live on the other side of the ocean.

Don't get cocky, it's in Spain.

[Kaebora]

Whatever happened to the good ol' days of bird flu, and SARS?
Well, guess its one more rare disease to worry about. I for one don't worry about it because it is easily curable.

The 2009 flu outbreak in humans that is widely known as "swine flu" apparently is not due to a swine influenza virus. It is due to a new strain of influenza A virus subtype H1N1 that derives from one strain of human influenza virus, one strain of avian influenza virus, and two separate strains of swine influenza virus. The origins of this new strain are unknown, and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) reports that this strain has not been isolated in swine.[3] It passes with apparent ease from human to human, an ability attributed to an as-yet unidentified mutation.[4] The strain in most cases causes only mild symptoms and the infected person makes a full recovery without requiring medical attention and without the use of antiviral medicines.[5]

[Morkulv]

The news here said that it was only life-threatening to really young or old people, so I'm not worried of it myself. I am worried about little kids getting it though, thats a serious issue.

[Sebiale]

The news here said that it was only life-threatening to really young or old people, so I'm not worried of it myself. I am worried about little kids getting it though, thats a serious issue.

Au contraire my friend, the Swine flu is actually feared because it is targeting the middle aged people, instead of the young or old as influenza usually does. So you can stop worrying about the little kids so much, and start worrying about yourself
(Not to say that kids or elders can't get, 1st U.S. victim was a toddler, may he R.I.P.)

As far as I'm concerned, this is just another disease and the media's hyping on it like they love to.
The common influenza(and it's complications) regularly kills about 35K people a year in the U.S. alone, but it's not considered a pandemic, same with other diseases that are spread across the globe. Pneumonia kills 20K a year in Mexico.
Also, the Swine Flu is very treatable, there are medicines that can severly impinge it's progress if it's caught, Mexico City cured 300 of 312 cases, hardly a killer pandemic.
Some Support

[vrikasatma]

I was listening to NPR in the car today. They had on a guy from the CDC talking about "the swine flu epidemic." Here's the scoop, at least for the New World:

1) The disease was first noted amongst hospital patients around Mexico City.

2) Some people are trying to spread around a conspiracy theory that the CIA are shipping ultra-powerful, unsecured containers to Afghanistan and Pakistan to use as biological warfare: don't believe a word of it, it's utter bullshit.

3) H1N1 is no more (or less) virulent than the normal flu virus we encounter every year is.

4) It lacks the "killer genes" that swine flu epidemics of the past — specifically, 1918 — had. So we probably won't see wholesale loss of life.

Perspective: H1N1 has killed one person in the United States so far. The above-mentioned common flu kills about 34,000 a year (about 100 a day). Cancer kills 550,000 a year (1500 a day). Seriously, there's bigger diseases to be scared of!

[PariahPoet]

Hey guys, thought this was important to pass along. Apparently they found the first human victim of the swine flu. The news article included pictures, so be sure to avoid any contact with this individual!
Click for the full story! http://cuteoverload.com/2009/04/30/pati ... /#comments

[Sebiale]

It's possible considering the degree of contact shown, but remember that the disease first appeared in Mexixo, that boy don't look Mexican to me.
Also, even though that is very...intimate contact, the odds of the swine flue jumping from pigs to humans is still very rare. As far as we kno it only actually happened once, with the original human host.

[PariahPoet]

It was a joke.... -_-

Which apparently fell flat.

[Sebiale]

It was a joke.... -_-

Which apparently fell flat.

I totally knew you were trying to make a joke...
>.>
<.<

[MattSullivan]

Three more dead people in Mexico.

What an odd little bug

[MoonKit]

Some people are taking this very seriously. I live within twenty minutes of NYC and people are walking around with those face masks. From what Ive seen it doesnt appear to be a big deal unless youre feeble, a baby or live in Mexico with already not so great sanitary conditions.

[*nagowteena*]

great, now there is a swine flu outbreak in El Paso.

so far there are nineteen confirmed cases, and many more unconfirmed.