Pandemic Potential in North America

If there is one thing America does well, it's panic. Sales of pork are WAY down, even though you can't get swine flu from eating pork.

What? So the only connection so far between pigs and swine flu is that swine flu originated from pigs? I wonder why AIDS isn't called monkey virus or something.

I live in Australia with 0 confirmed cases of swine flu. SUCK IT BITCHES!

 

I feel kinda bad about this all because a few days ago I changed my gamertag to "Teh Swine Flu" I hope it doesn't get bad lol.
Edit: Oh and today on msn.com it had an article about the first confirmed death in america... 0_o
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30471035/?GT1=43001

 

The confirmed death wasn't even a confirmed 'Swine Flu' carrier. The media stated he had influenza symptoms, the average ones we develop. Along with that, it was a two-year-old toddler who died. One who had underlying health occurrences, and obviously ones who immune system was not initially developed, hence killing the innocent child. And as Sweeny said, people die from the flu everyday, yet now once a U.S. citizen dies it's total outbreak? I see no major Apocalypse coming from this epidemic, it will just be another useless part of Earth's History when the media try's to gain more viewers.

 

America has tons of medicine on hand in case the swine flu does get out of hand. We are prepared to throw down with this swine flu! I live in NJ and my state has it! This is not the first time swine flu has been in NJ and it will not be the last. Sure, things can get ugly with the swine flu. However, precautions have been taken to make sure most of us are safe. Stay away from crowded areas when possible. Such as: restaurants, malls, stores, schools, college, etc.

 

That's it, we're all ****ed.

 

Alright ForgeHub, we're not taking ANY chances!
If reported signs of zombification stars, we move to our nations respective capital, board a plane, fly to Madagascar, and make a stand there. We have been training for however long you have been here at FH, and we know how to counteract this constipatious disease.
Some will die, but hopefully it is the Trainees and not anybody above Guerilla, as we will sacrifice the n00bs to the zombies first!


OP: Damn. The piggy flu is going to kill us all amirite?
Do those breath mask things really do that much, because can't the virus still get in through our pores, and all that fun stuff?
I'm really worried that it might spread to a real problem. Yeah I know the US has enough supplies to prevent major sickness and death, but still, I'm worried...

 

Delaware should be changed to red. Four college kids at The University of Delaware reportedly have Swine Flu.
Today, a lot of my teachers at school had brought in huge dispensers of hand sanitizer and encouraged us to wash our hands as frequently as possible.
I personally don't think that it will turn into anything like The Plague from England or anything like that. I think people are getting too worked up about it just because "Swine Flu" sounds very dangerous and contaminating.
So what if it's on the news. We have cancer and all sorts of diseases that people die from and they're not making headline news everyday. Quit making such a big deal. If you're really worried about it, just wash your hands as frequently as you deem necessary and avoid anybody that seems to be sick. As Sweeny said, just basic health precautions.

 

I think it funny how none of the communists have it ha. for those who dont know who who the communist countries are they are like Russia and North Korea and China and Iran and cuba... wtf

 

Okay, this is seriously pissing me off now. I request you take these pictures down simply because they raise the fear levels. Apparently the news is showing these pictures as well, and they are blatantly misleading. There is one death in all of America, and immediately America (including Hawaii and Alaska) are shaded black in their entirety. If a poorly informed person looked at that map, they'd easily believe that people are dying all around the country from Swine Flu, when there has only been one death.

Then there is a more in depth look, showing that the death has only been in Texas. Only people who will go further perusing will get that much and realize that not all of America has been infected. But even then, all of Texas for 1 death? There are 24,178,180 people living in Texas, and a whole state, a whole country, gets blacked out? Oh, wait, the person who died from the "swine flu" wasn't even a resident of Texas. They weren't even adult. It was a Mexican toddler, from Mexico, who was visiting Texas. Counting that as an American Death is like pronouncing people dead outside of an Amusement Park after their head has been severed while riding one of it's roller coasters. I mean seriously, the news is playing this off as an American death, that Americans should now fear for their lives because one of "our own" has fallen to this enemy. No, a Mexican toddler died. Children and the Elderly are the most susceptible to flu related deaths, and those who live in third world countries. Well, this was a child, and from a third world country (technically "developing country", but it was third world and has only advanced so much). His death has nothing to do with America.

I go to school today, and people are running scared. A kid talked how he got a check-up to see if he had Swine Flu, and my teacher made us all clean our desks because of this disease. This kid was saying misinformed "facts" that the news has been spreading, and no one knew any better. Swine flu is a combination of pig, bird, and human flu? This is complete bullshit and is wrong, but the news has been spreading it around at a faster rate than this disease. Why? Because like Ann Coulter, people twist facts to support their claims. The swine flu was originally a cold associated with pigs and would occasionally infect humans. That takes care of the "pig" part. Like bird flu, it is an uncommon flu that more people are getting and has limited treatment during out-break (although there is proven treatment for it that works now, check the above link). Basically, the only shared characteristics that it has with the "bird flu" is how people are getting infected with it. That takes care of the "bird". This flu is exactly identical in terms of symptons and complications to the common flu that humans recieve, it's only biochemically different making it immune to normal vacines. That takes care of the "human".

So, as you can see, the only medical claim in "part pig, part bird, and part human" that is in fact true from a scientific aspect, is the human part. However, they include bird because the bird flu was a big deal and many remember its terror. They include pig because "Swine" leads people to believe that you can get this from pigs. Just like mad cow coming from steak. This is an issue, however, because eating pork and being around pigs has nothing to do with "Swine flu", that's not how we get it. However, the shameful coverage the News has displayed has lead the average person of pitiful intelligence not be able to tell Swine Flu from their own ass. Now, people are not buying pork or eating pork, which is severally harming the pork industry during these bad economic times.

The OP needs to be changed immediately, because I am all for sharing your voice but it's gotten to the point where even my libertarian ideals want to shut people up. There is nothing wrong with a thread about Swine Flu, but there is an issue with the thread being about "raising awareness" of the dangers of Swine Flu. With pictures that are embedded in the first post, people are only getting scared and are taking things out of proportion. Radiant Rain, you are feeding the monster of fear that the News has created. This is pathetic, and is now affecting my life, and while I doubt anyone in my school reads this thread, the less sources of misinformation the better. I am tired of being forced to wash my hands entering a class, wiping down my desk, and keeping away from the drinking fountains. I am tired of people running around scared, and fueling their own fear by sharing this misleading information that the News has created. I am tired of providing medical and logical proof that this isn't a huge deal, but getting shot down because I am outnumbered. The Swine Flu is not the issue here, the general "idiot agenda" is.

EDIT: And for the record, the actual flu (Swine, Bird, Common, etc.) is rarely the direct cause of human death. It only weakens your immune system and allows much more dangerous and fatal illnesses sink it. Most notable and common is pneumonia.

 

I really do hope he is kidding. Oh no! A disease that we have a cure for is spreading. There's no reason to close schools/ businesses, no reason to be afraid. The pied piper of panic is leading you on, because the only thing more infectious than influenza is fear.

President Obama could have said "There's no cause for alarm" but declaring it a "serious situation" wins him more hearts and minds, because no-one wants to be told they are over-reacting, even if it is true.

 

While I agree that it does not help matters with the president declaring it a "serious situation", he has little choice. First off, declaring this an emergency is like car insurance, nothing necessarily will happen but it's nice to have if it does. If this did turn into a pandemic and the American people were not notified of the possibility before-hand, then there would be far many more complaints. However, I feel like the news has taken it a step further, by declaring his as an actual pandemic. If they had simply said "This is a possible-pandemic, because this is a unique type of flu. However, it can be treated and prevented like the normal flu, so only time will tell." That would not have been so bad.

Yet, that isn't what they said, and they are still saying the wrong thing. Now, not only are they creating fear, but they are pressuring others into re-affirming this false fear. Now, with all this media coverage of "surmounting death" and tragedy, if Obama had stood onstage and said "This is no issue, we are working on curing this disease and so far have had good luck." People would be upset, because that's not what the news said. We'd see mothers have emergency meetings about pulling their children out of school and saying "I thought I could trust in Obama" and people like Rush Limbaugh jumping on the opportunity declaring "Obama sentences his own country to death." etc.

So yes, if anyone had a chance of cooling down the hype, it was our President. Even then, though, it would have been a huge risk that was probably best avoided. It is up to the people to cool themselves down, and we are failing at that.

 

New jersey should be red now..
Some kid in another high school (same town) has a confirmed infection of the flu. Apparently he was on a vacation and happened to pass through Mexico and caught it. The School District did not reveal who the kid was to us, but all we know as of now is that he has a swine flu.

 

I find it kind of funny that every state bordering me is infected but not my state! Go AZ!

But I agree that the media is totally blowing this up way bigger than it really is(like almost everything).

 

The only reason this is such a big deal is because it's a new strain of the H1N1 (swine) virus, that our bodies haven't naturally built up our immune systems for. If we had, or if this was more common, this would never be an issue.

 

I still think this whole thing is a load of bullshit. The government has to act on it or the media would be all over them, but the media is blowing it way out of proportion. And sweenytodd is right, the diagram in the OP is misleading.

 

Really? Everything that sweeney has said, QFT!

I haven't really been keeping up on this, and I have no intentions of doing so. It's the flu for Christ's sake! You cough and throw up and feel crappy and don't eat and take medicine and eat crackers and go to the doctor and then you feel better. This whole "Swine Flu" is just as silly as the Bird Flu. I remember my teachers telling us about the Bird Flu and how we're working on vaccines and I don't even know. Come on god, where's the next Rage Virus? I know you can do better than this.

You know what would be nice? A single news source which doesn't rely on exaggeration and bias to get viewers. I would totally venture there every day. A news source which doesn't figure out a way to make the most gruesome statistics, only so that viewers can tell all their friends about the "next Black Plague".

Also about the diagram. Maybe if it was an actual diagram it might be useful. You know, one of those diagrams that, you know, gives people... I don't know. Maybe information? I usually trust Wikipedia, after all, they are nerds who edit an encyclopedia in their spare time for free. They must know what they are talking about.

This is junk. I am off to disinfect my toothbrush and throw out all my bacon.

 

I just saw my Local News channel, and they open right up with the Swine Flu.
"24 cases in Arizona, only one confirmed."

Then they cut to a package, a story that opens up with three elementary girls dancing. They say that "this should be familiar, so it serves as no shock that these girls' parents were very concerned when they got a letter that one of their students have Swine Flu." After this, they do a diagram of it spreading from household to household and say, "And this flu can happen this fast" at that point showing a girl sneezing.

This is terrible, and it drives me insane. The news is not trying to instill fear, but they are trying to create the greatest shock stories that will attract a large audience, and what will get them more viewers than doing a story focusing on "the children" being at risk. After this very upsetting and aggravating segment, they cut to the anchorman with a "Swine Flu" logo off in the corner, and to no surprise does it feature a silhouetted pig, furthering the misleading relation this disease has with pigs.

Also, that 1 "American" death came up as well, and I love how the News hasn't really covered who it was that died. They just have mentioned someone has died, and gave no insight to the issue. I'm almost more willing to bet that at least 2 people in America has died today from some other common illness, and they are actual Americans.

Now clearly, me saying the same thing over and over is doing no good here. It's almost as useless as the constant fear-mongering of the Swine Flu, but at least my protests aren't negatively affecting society. This is why I urge you, the reader, everyone reading this now, not to panic. When I first heard of this flu, I was afraid. My mom has several diseases and a week immune system, and I didn't want anything bad to happen. So I researched this flu, and then I learned that this wasn't so bad after-all. I also learned that it's being made out to be far worse than I was first told. So, here is what you can do to actually help. If you hear people talking about the Swine Flu, saying things like, "I just can't feel safe anymore with this all over" and expressing other words of concern, please take the time to set them straight. Just follow this simple guide on curing the:

Slaughter House Pandemic (A cure)
Where "millions" of humans line up to be diced into bacon bits. (A guide to setting things right and correctly informing the headless chickens of the public). What do you do when you see people discussing the Swine Flu?

• First and foremost, if you are ever in the presence of someone you suspect to have a case of the "Swindle Fear Flu" run the opposite direction and lather your eyes in hand sanitizer. Your precious retinas must not be exposed to the filth of death!
• However, all it takes is a single word, and you have it. At this point, you might as well give up, because let's faced it, you're ****ed. Though sources do lead us to believe that this is a biochemical weapon being distributed via Television Airways.
• If you do find yourself infected, and unwilling to kick the bucket, there is only one thing left to do. Fight back! Put on your medical mask, because you're going to have to confront this demon face to face... by informing the idiots that there is no cause to fear.
• How might you do this? More importantly, how will this cure you? The answer is simple my friend, by getting them to take their head out the news' ass, their mindless babble will cease to bother you and you are then cured? But how? Clearly this "Swindle Fear Flu" is spreading very rapidly and shows no signs of slowing.

1. First, cough to get their attention, then laugh. You know it's funny, and if they have any sense they'd be laughing too.
2. Shock them by saying "I heard that I heard about 20 million people die a year from this one flu." Give them a moment to properly adjust their faces of shock before finishing with, "called the common flu. This Swine Flu on the other hand, somewhat seems like a pushover. Ha, it's almost as pathetic as that freshman I found in the locker the other day."
3. Time to get dirty. Say, "Excuse me, I need to get a drink" and go to the nearest public water fountain. After all, you'll need those minerals to keep your healthy energy going.
4. When you return say, "The news is wrong, don't trust it. They know that their viewers are idiots, so they feel no shame in exploiting juicy stories like slices of ham on Thanksgiving."
5. Navigate them here, to this thread, and have them read all of it in it's entirety. I'm sorry, this is awfully lazy of me, but I haven't been feeling so well....
6. Sneeze, wipe your nose, shake their hand, and thank them for their time (even though it's your time they have wasted).

But seriously guys, if you have the sense to read and agree with me here, and know that this isn't such a big deal after all, take it upon yourself to educate society. I have corrected many friends and one of my teachers, and hope to do more. The internet has provided us with a great thing, the ability for logical people with reason to share their ideas and have their voices heard over that of the news. So please, if you see debate about this "Swine Flu" don't just accept it, challenge it. Show the real facts that support this as a simple disease (theoretically speaking), not a for sure pandemic. Hopefully the knowledge will spread, and this can finally be put to rest.

Also, here is the best satirical clip I have seen on the issue yet:
Snoutbreak '09 - The Last 100 Days | The Daily Show | Comedy Central

 

The Flu itself probably won't be fatal, but complications and additional illnesses (such as pneumonia) can be. But, this is no "playing it safe" it is creating fear amongst the public and being blown out of proportion. Being aware is knowing that the flu is going around, so drink alot and wash your hands. This is "there is a new "black plague" of a flu going around, so let's shut down schools and other public buildings!"