The swine flu: Global crisis or another false alarm?

April 30, 9:33 AMDakota County Liberal ExaminerJake Foster

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With the mass hysteria surrounding everything from Y2K, to the Africanized Killer Bees, or even the bird flu, it’s easy for one to be skeptical about the newly coined “pandemic” the swine flu.  Although some experts may say this disease poses a threat to the United States, or even the world, it may be difficult to truly convince most Americans. 

According to the USA Today (Wednesday , April 29, 2009) Public School 177 in Queens, New York has been shut down to prevent any further spread of this ailment.  The USA Today also quoted Anne Schuchat of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in saying, “We may see a worsening of the disease,” and Director Richard Besser (CDC) added, “I fully expect we will see deaths from this infection.” 

Although there may definitely be a great deal of skepticism over the swine flu, there is undoubtedly some cause for concern.  With the United States’ track record for wrongly perpetuating mass hysteria, there is even more pressure placed on President Obama and his administration.  If inheriting a failing economy and two unpopular wars wasn’t enough, now the Obama administration must deal with the prevention and containment of a disease that might not even pose a great threat to American citizens.  At least he doesn’t have to worry about the Mexican government coughing in blankets and sending them across the border. 

Only time will tell the extent of harm the swine flu is capable of creating.  Hopefully there are enough paper masks to go around by the time this disease makes its way to the Upper Midwest.