Swine flu: Media hype or a real concern?

A few years ago it was the bird flu. Now it’s the swine flu. Why can’t these damned animals keep their flues to themselves?
As far as the avian flu was concerned, it never did blow up into the global pandemic that was feared. Hopefully the same will be true of the swine flu. However, there is a startling difference between the two. The avian flu could only be contracted when coming into contact with an infected bird. The swine flu, however, is currently being spread from person to person. Not good.
But I refuse to get caught up in the media hype at this point. There are reports of some deaths, but still more people have died of the regular ol’ flu than swine flu this year. I don’t wear a mask to work and I’m not stockpiling emergency supplies. I’m not cancelling any travel plans (mind you, I don’t have many at the moment) and I’m not avoiding pork…mmm, pork.
Having said all that, it may be worth considering the role trucking will play in the event of a global pandemic. It’s pretty easy to do, since we did all this two years ago amidst the bird flu fears.
Here’s a story from an informative presentation that was made by a Transport Canada rep during a PMTC conference in 06.
Here is a story about a prudent fleet (Erb) that planned for the worst.
This is how trucking associations in Canada prepared for the possibility of an outbreak.
And here’s a column by publisher Rob Wilkins about a study that was done that recognized the need to treat truckers first, so they can help keep our society moving in the event of a pandemic.
NOTE: You’ll need to be a subscriber to access the archives. Hopefully, like the bird flu and SARS, the swine flu will fade away without taking a serious toll on humanity.

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James Menzies is editorial director of Today's Trucking and TruckNews.com. He has been covering the Canadian trucking industry for more than 24 years and holds a CDL. Reach him at james@newcom.ca or follow him on Twitter at @JamesMenzies.


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  • I cant help but be sucked in by the media hype! It is so worrying but i try nt to let it get to me.
    It was the same with “mad cow” disease, “foot and mouth” disease and “bird flu” too many pandemics are happeing. I fail to believe that this will be any different from the others.
    The more research i do on the net and realise that people r really worried about it, the more it scares me.
    Im stuck in limbo. Do i be worried? Do i not?
    Is media panicking us all again?

  • I think that h1n1 is simply a conspiracy by the government. Many of others also believe that it was ment to control the population, but I think it was just hyped by the media who were controlled by all those international corporations who were the ones that sold the vaccinations to the many different governments. Do you guys agree??