Swine Flu:pandemic or Hyperbole?

摘要

By the time you read this, the tale of the swine flu virus likely will have played out,and we will know for sure whether it was a threat comparable to the strain that killedtens of millions of people during the period 1918 to 1919. There is no doubt about the seriousness of this virus, but the new strain perhaps was un-fairly proclaimed a potential pandemic right from the outset by a press corps eager to fillprint pages and endless hours of cable TV news. Since the initial outburst, it has movedcloser to looking like a more serious threat, as more cases have been reported from vari-ous spots across the globe. At this point, experts are faced with the question of why it is so fatal in Mexico, but hasnot yet proved so in the US. Only time will provide the answer to that and other questionsof its origin and means of transmission.