When I read a post few days ago on Dave Matthews' Twitter about how he had just read a CNN article regarding “a deadly strain of swine flu,” it was the first I heard of the disease. I immediately began scanning different news sites to find out more. For about four days now, swine flu has been atop Twitter’s most frequented topics, and more and more cases of the virus have popped up in certain areas of the U.S. (New York, California, Texas, Ohio and Kansas). Sure, it can be deadly if not treated, but it can also be prevented just like other types of influenza.
Some feel that the country, and rest of the world for that matter, is overreacting to this outbreak citing for instance, President Barack Obama’s request of $1.5 billion from Congress to fight swine flu.
It has also been reported that authorities in Egypt have ordered the extermination of all pigs in the country in fear that the disease will spread further, although there have been no reports of the virus in the African country. DMB fans expressed their discomfort, or in some cases, facetiousness, concerning this in a forum on one of the band’s popular fan-sites, antsmarching.org saying things like bacon will be cheaper, or as one poster put it "I wouldn't have to be ethnocentric if other countries weren't so stupid." But the question remains: is this pandemic a serious issue, or is the media just blowing it out of proportion? Only time will tell…but until then, please wash your hands.