Swine Flu Outbreak Widens

Well if you haven't heard it by now, there is a worldwide semi-pandemic going by way of the swine flu (H1N1 strain). The virus has taken nearly 150 lives in Mexico and has caused enough stir among media and US lawmakers to call a session this Thursday to determine what should be done.

Its gotten so bad that the World Health Organization (WHO) raised its alert status while the US Center for Disease Control (CDC) activated its Emergency Operations Center. Janet Napolitano, the Secretary of the Department Homeland Security, declared this Sunday a national health emergency.

To date 140 cases have been noted in Mexico with over 1900 individuals being infected. In the US, there have been 40 confirmed cases with 28 in New York, 8 of those from a New York High School. Seven patients are reported to being in California mainly San Diego. You can take a look at the geographic locations of the reported cases of swine flu using Google maps.

The United States, European Union, China, Taiwan and Russian are considering quarantines and advising people who are not conducting important travel to remain at home. Mexican officials are suspending attendance of school and public events to try to contain the virus.

The Department of Homeland Security has released 25% of its supply of Relenza and Tamiflu, drugs that treat the influenza, to areas of outbreak. To date, no US citizens that have been infected with swine flu have had any contact with pigs. Thus, it is likely airborne and through touch. It is imperative that you wash your hands often and avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth.

Historical Swine Flu Outbreaks

In recent memory, there was the 1976 swine flu outbreak in New Jersey at Fort Dix among the military personnel. That case left over 500 people ill and one person dead. President Gerald Ford ordered a countrywide vaccination program that only reached a small percent of the population.

In 1918 a worldwide plague dubbed the Spanish Flu killed over 20 million people was caused by the swine flu. Over half the words population was infected and by estimates up to 5% of the people died. It is of the same virus variant (H1N1) being experienced today and that was first found in Kansas and New York.

In The Markets

The news of the swine flu held over from the weekend quickly rattled the global markets. Before the session opened, the S&P 500 futures contract was down over 2%. The CME June Lean Hog Futures contract(HEM9) fell $3.00/share. Shares of the worlds largest meat producer, Tyson Foods (TYN; -9%) and the world's largest pig manufacturer Smithfield Foods (SFD; -12%) sold off also.

On The Internet

Well there is no lack of chaos being spread on the Internet. The confusion about the disease has been expressed everywhere there is an opinion. On Twitter where as of 7:00PMPST it is the number one trending topic with tweets coming in heavy. Here's a sampling of different viewpoints:

demoskratos Asia likely to climb out of recession faster as they feed domestic needs before US & Europe;Swine flu is a head fake by big money players

With all the recent swine flu chatter on Twitter, it makes me wonder what 9/11 would have been like if Twitter had been around.

BinaryImpact @nycgrl88 i agree, i'm getting so annoyed by everyone freaking out about swine flu

SUELYNNGAG IM THINKING SWINE FLU IS A MALE DISEASE!

lebrun The Swine Flu is proof that an idea virus spreads faster than a real one.

About Kerry Kobashi

Kerry is the founder of KerryOnWorld. He lives in Silicon Valley and has worked as an engineer and project manager. He owns Kobashi Computing a consulting company.