[hippiechick]

I hope they're just playing it safe, or do they know something we don't?

[dfwgator]

I hope they're just playing it safe, or do they know something we don't?

Yes. We're out of coffee! *AAAAAGH!*

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

There’s a couple of dozen people sick worldwide, time to call out the National Guard and declare martial law.

[smokingfrog]

Who’s next?

[RandallFlagg]

Captain Tripps.

[Squantos]

Overkill reaction in such a case may save lives if the threat is indeed real.......WHO knows.....:o)

Personally we will cut back public outings for a few weeks to wait and see......, purell, soap , hot water and avoiding public places as much as possible is best defense IMO.

[savedbygrace]

WHO Boosts Flu Alert Level To Phase 5

CUE ABBOTT & COSTELLO

[Kakaze]

I get the feeling we are being herded.

[luckystarmom]

My husband said that he read something that says that it may be getting more virulent as it goes along, and that is why they are concerned.

[GOPJ]

Experts are haunted by what happened with the nation's last campaign to vaccinate against swine flu back in 1976. It was halted after 45 million Americans got flu shots, because several hundred people came down with Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare paralyzing disease. Some of them died. And in the end, the threatened swine flu pandemic never materialized.

I got the swine flu shot back in 1976 - will it offer any protection?

[armyofprinciples]

I’ve been getting shivers lately, is it flu?
I know the bug is going round, what can I do?
It’s about to pick on me, I’ve still got the other three
Do you think I caught smallpox I’d get Swine flu?

[jakerobins]

It’s Amazing what Obama’s done to this country in 100 short days. Bush kept us safe from terrorists...Obama is closing Gitmo and stopping interogation. Barry is creating hysteria for his own political gain.

[callmejoe]

” . . .Fukuda, WHO assistant director general, said the situation was moving closer to Phase 5, indicating widespread human-to-human transmission and that a pandemic is indeed “imminent.” . . .”

It was the second emergency meeting in as many days. They went ahead and went to Phase 5 meaning the pandemic is imminent. This is as “real” as it gets.

As someone described it a few years ago, a full-on pandemic (like 1918) will be like a hundred Katrinas hitting a hundred American cities at once (with possibly hundreds of thousands of deaths if it mutates into a tamiflu-resistant variant)

Let’s pray it fizzles out or it is mild like the pandemics of 1889, 1957, and 1968.

But they are acting as if they expect the worst.

[bdeaner]

I hope they're just playing it safe, or do they know something we don't?

What's not to know? We have a Type A flu pandemic which could potentially have a kill rate of 2-6% of those infected (there is reason to be more optimistic, however). This is not something to screw around with. Action is necessary to prepare for this major historical crisis. Failure to act would be an aggregious irresponsibility.

[hinckley buzzard]

I hope they're just playing it safe, or do they know something we don't?

It is a fool's errand to try to figure out what the thoroughly politicized WHO knows and what it doesn't. Years ago they did the biggest study in the world on "secondhand smoke" and proved it is harmless. The results were buried by nonscientific bureaucrats, never to be seen again. No doubt the same level of dishonesty can be counted upon now.

[hinckley buzzard]

I hope they're just playing it safe, or do they know something we don't?

It is a fool's errand to try to figure out what the thoroughly politicized WHO knows and what it doesn't. Years ago they did the biggest study in the world on "secondhand smoke" and proved it is harmless. The results were buried by nonscientific bureaucrats, never to be seen again. No doubt the same level of dishonesty can be counted upon now.

[Caipirabob]

I hope they're just playing it safe, or do they know something we don't?

Justification to nationalize all healthcare via emergency executive order?