I’m very confused about this swine flu outbreak, or as they now call it, the H1N1 influenza pandemic. The “swine” in the swine flu name apparently makes some people afraid to eat pork. The pork industry is fighting hard to stop calling it by this name. People need to stop worrying about the name. This virus is not transmitted by food, so you can’t get it by eating pork.

Swine flu is a respiratory disease of pigs caused by type A influenza virus that regularly causes outbreaks of influenza in pigs. They do not normally infect humans, but it does happen, obviously. These cases usually occur in persons with direct exposure to pigs. They spread like the regular flu.

I don’t really care what it’s called. I’m just confused by the various media coverage of this news. Some people make it sound like it’s the new plague, and others, it’s not that serious at all. I don’t know if I should be worried, or act as if nothing has changed. As it turns out, I actually know someone who has swine flu, and spoke with her yesterday. She’s sick today, and I don’t feel any symptoms, yet. The incubation period for the virus varies from 1-4 days, so I guess I’ll find out soon. Also, I told her not to come to class until she’s all better, but I’m sure she already knew that.

The regular flu kills over 30,000 people in this country every year, and the death toll from swine flu is just 1, thus far. The last time we had swine flu outbreak in this country was in 1976. Back then, the government overreacted, and urged everyone to get vaccinated. President Ford himself got vaccinated on camera. Luckily, only about 500 people got infected. 25 people died, but not from direct swine flu infection. Most of those deaths were caused by severe reactions to the vaccine.

President Obama started his press conference yesterday by telling people to be more cautious, to wash their hands, and cover up the mouth when coughing. Ok, I can do that. It doesn’t sound that dangerous. But earlier today, vice president Joe Biden basically told people to avoid closed quarters, like flying in an airplane. That sounds significantly more dangerous than what the President said. Whitehouse and vice president’s office later retracted the statement. Of course, now the transportation industry is furious.

What amazes me is how fast this thing is spreading around the world, but most of the deaths are occurring in Mexico. I’m sure someone is studying why that is. At least, I hope someone is.

I guess I’ll just have to keep watching the news. I’ll try to keep you guys updated.