Containing the Swine Flu

The Centers for Disease Control recently reported that it might not be feasible to control the spread of the swine flu. So far there have been 64 confirmed cases of the disease in the United States but no fatalities. No major warnings have been posted by the Deparment of Hoemland Security besides the travel advisory against nonessential travel. However the Cuban government has moved to ban all travel to Mexico. The virus has been spreading fast and there have been other reported cases in Spain and in Israel proving that the swine flu is fast becoming a pandemic. While containing the flu is not an option been considered, preventive measures and good health practices should be observed to prevent further spread of the virus.

Already, the outbreak is causing waves that might distabilize national markets. With the global stress on world economies, the flu or any pandemic of any sort is the last thing the world needs right now. In 2003, the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which originated in Asia supposedly in Hong Kong severely distabilized world markets and resulted in over 700 deaths worldwide with about 8,000 cases of illness. With pandemics, the challenge is not to contain outbreaks but rather to make sure there is an effective response team to handle cases of outbreak. Consequently, the United States government has moved in to disseminate information -even though some of it is vague- and prepare a response team to handle a massive outbreak of the disease.