The price of a name "Swine flu"

People around the world were alarmed for the new flu strain outbreak triggered in North America at the end of the first quarter of the year 2009.

The first case infection of H1N1 virus was detected in Mexico, and such new flu strain, has been unofficially known in term of ‘Swine Flu’ killed 168 Mexicans and infected about two thousand people globally.

According to the rise of a number of deaths and infected H1N1 virus were real high in a couple weeks since the discovery of an outbreak. Additionally, with the report of new infection, confirmed cases in US, Canada, UK and Spain. Especially, in Asia where the case of patient who was infected by H1N1 influenza was found in Hong Kong and Korea, leads to affirmation of Swine Flu outburst in Asia by World Health Organization (WHO) later on.

What happened so far implied that H1N1 virus had jumped to many other places half way around the world. So, there’s high possibility of Swine flu threat can turn out to be a great ‘pandemic’ of the year 2009. (Like SARS, 2003 and Bird flu, 1997 once left their marks in history earlier)

Notably, World Health Organization (WHO) reacted to current outbreak situation by shifting up the threat alert to phase 5, on a 6-point scale.

Nevertheless, there’s a side effect of H1N1 virus or so-called “swine flu” that indeed far beyond health risk conditions— It is an unpredictable ‘panic’ of people toward this kind of influenza that had spread all over the globe.


Why not panic?
For it is the fact that H1N1 virus is a new hybrid kind of virus that derived from avian flu ( a H5N1 flu strain) and human virus, and Swine itself was a host that carried virus for decades.
Hence, when there’s scientific proof by Center for Disease Control (CDC) in US to 2009-flu originated from pig, shortly over night that people all over the world are responsive to the term ‘Swine flu’.

What’s reaction we’re talking about?
Even though the numbers of confirmed cases in various countries are rigid, but the price of ‘panic’ is unpredictable.

It seems that the effort of WHO to build confidence in people, concerning of virus 2009 H1N1 contacts from human-human only is useless, for people first perception towards the name “Swine flu” is colored by their “Bird flu” experienced, yielding series of negative outcomes.

1. The use of name “swine flu” only worth misleading and triggering slaughter 300,000 pigs in Egypt on Wednesday 29, April as a precaution against the flu. It’s the same measurement to counter Bird flu that hit country earlier in 2006.

Subsequently, there were comments from global health experts to such decision of Egypt President, Mr.Hosni Mubarak, about the great slaughter. For massacre 300,000 pigs is such a waste of resources and indeed unnecessary.


2. China, the world’s largest pork consumer banned meat that imported from US and Mexico. However, It is a real sad news for the largest pork producer like US, because decision that made by China might encourage other countries else rejected imported meat from US too.

Why don’t they?

According to the perspective of countries that import meat from US--This is a good opportunity to stabilize their domestic balance sheet.

*Those governments might encourage their people to eat pork from their homeland farm, (of course, it is safer than scandal North America meat!) or eat fish, chicken and beef that produced within their territories instead. Plus following this act will help local meat producers get through this challenging time.

Pretty soon, I bet that US will be facing the rejecting on meat through the ‘wall tax’ in many countries as an indirect way to ban US imported meat. And it will dump down US pork industry to hurt further than $97 billion US dollars, pausing US economic into deep suffering.

3. The incident of Panic on ‘swine flu’ is not much different in Thailand because the price has fallen and demand for meat consumption is lower as soon as the media reported on the outbreak. The existence of flu is impacting 70-billion-baht pork industry of Thailand.

Swine flu vs. Mexico flu

Since there are many inevitably effects caused by the name “Swine flu” Hence, there is an attempting of many countries to get rid of the old perception toward pig. For example, Israel government refused strongly to call the deadly virus swine flu, instead they preferred to call the epidemic from its originated, and that was believe to be the farm in Mexico that first case found.


But the problem of the newly name used by the media “Mexico flu” still left problems, for the victim to blame shift from pig to a Mexican.

For example, there’s a report about China quarantined 70 Mexican travelers in hospitals and hotels in recent week, without the evidences to claim that they’re infected H1N1 virus. As well as the case of Mexican ambassador in Guangzhou who was detained after returning from a vacation in Cambodia. Regardless of the fact that he lives in China not Mexico. Only nationality described in passport ‘Mexican’ is serious charge enough.

It’s the way of “discrimination” that most Mexicans faces and the way they enforced to be isolated when aboard. It seems like in other nations eyes Mexican is like a housing of disease that must treated in a different manner.

Seriously, I wonder how this will effect to their international relation in the long run after the virus issue is relieved its tension?

Or China and other development countries just don’t care about ‘Mexico’, the developing country one ?

However, I guess that we have to pay before the bet. Like in this ‘name game’ that we were putting the bet real high. The price we have to paid for 2009-flu, in the end, is not a life that claimed by virus, but how we allow the ‘panic’ to won over easily by reckless of good judgment.

Who knows that there’s indeed something in a name…
And congratulations of WHO that finally has an officially name for the remarkable

'Influenza A H1N1'