Probably more to freaky flesheating bacteria too.

yay, apparently the US had its first swine flu death. Meanwhile, 23 people were murdered, 740 were killed in car accidents, and 16 were killed by stampeding puppies.

Might I add, I heard a statistic that said something like 36,000 people died of flu related deaths last year. So, a few people dying from flu, when normal people die of the regular flu each year. I'm not really sure why people are freaking out.

I think the panic spread because it was associated with food. Food is a really soft spot for mankind.

And flu generally affects elderly and young people. Where now young adults with a normally perfectly good immune system get affected.

So people are comparing it to the Spanish Flu that struck right after WWI and that killed more people than WWI itself. A lot of young, healthy american soldiers as well.

Apparently there has been 1 fatality outside of Mexico, which was in Texas. You still there Satis?

My phone has been inundated with the corniest possible swine flu jokes imaginable.

Do share with us.

The Texas fatality was a Mexican kid too, iirc. So so far we can all secretly hope that it's only fatal to Mexicans. No but seriously...we're not gonna die. Not of the swine flu anyway. Another airborne mutated SARS outbreak, sure. But this is basically a normal flu with unexpected complications in some people, apparently (as J pointed out).

A disease that exclusively kills Mexicans? Guess we don't have to worry about those immigration problems.

You want bad jokes? Ok....

1. Think I've got that swine flu... I'm coming out in rashers

2. Bored on your way to work on the bus/tue/train? Pretend you're on the phone and talk about your 4 week tour of Mexico. Hang up. Sneeze.

3. Don't call the swine flu hotline, all I got was crackling

4. Just been to doctors coz I think I have swine flu. Waste of time, he just gave me oinkment.

5. (not sure on the wording of this, was told to me quite badly) Person 1: My car is almost out of petrol but I don't want to fill it up in case I get swine flu.
Person 2: It's in Mexico, not Texaco

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/SP468702.htm

* Mexico says H1N1 flu epidemic is past its peak
* Government looks to ease partial economic shutdown
* Experts say virus may be no more severe than normal flu
* WHO says world should not "lower guard" (Adds Calderon, health minister quotes, El Salvador cases)

Let's hope this crap blows over soon enough.

Yea lets hope. Although I am not freaking out about this, I usually tend to be a bit of a germaphobe. So, my mother (who lives in the same town as me) called me this morning to tell me she has the flu. So now I am thinking, is it the flu or N1H1. She was at a hardware store this weekend. Lots of very unclean people. /sigh who knows. But I am certainly not going over there until I know she is better. I hate being sick.

Yeah, it's time for some new crisis. We've now had the economy and flue, so I wonder what's next. Asteroids?

bah, asteroids are over too soon. There's a big difference between waiting for something to kill you and just dealing with the aftermath. Unless you're from New Orleans, of course, in which case you're a whiney bitch regardless.

Oh well, I was hoping this would be the disease to give manking a fresh start. Guess not. Imagine all the new lebensraum if this thing had proven to be fatal to all people of Spanish ancestry?

I dunno, that would probably mean I would be somewhat susceptible too, this region having been under Spanish rule for quit some time in the past.

Then again, my skin is white as can be and at least a quarter of my genetic material hails from Hungary. Maybe I'd be a survivor.

Anyhoo...swine flu hype seems to be sailing over. If this were a movie script it'd mutate unnoticed and slowly infect the entire planet, only to suddenly emerge strike with major complications. That sounds a lot like the game Pandemic we played a while ago actually. I guess at least Madagascar will survive.