Pandemic: adj. … 2. medicine Epidemic over a wide geographic area and affecting a large portion of the population … American Heritage Dictionary
Final Body Counts (Wikipedia):
- Black Plague: 200 million lives
- Holocaust: 6 million lives
- Pol Pot: 1.7 million lives
- Rwanda: 1 million lives
- Dec. 2004 Tsunami: 186,983
- WTC 9/11: 2,794 lives
Current Body Counts: (CDC / Dept. of Health & Human Services):
- Abortions in the USA since 1973: 37,211,406
- Swine flu: Zero deaths but 40 cases reported in the USA
While even a single death is grievous, perhaps some perspective is in order.
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Sounds like a gimmick so that the Republicans will be forced to confirm Sebellius' appointment; otherwise, they'll be blamed for partisanship at the expense of putting the American people at risk from this 'pandemic'. I hope the Republicans do not fall for it.
As far as I can tell, the flu in Mexico is serious, and we should respond appropriately. However, this doesn't mean we should rush any appointments to HHS. The flu vaccine you received last fall is not expected to protect you from this flu. The good news is that patients who seek treatment in the first day or so are responding to two of the four antiviral medications we have. This flu is an H1N1 strain. For reference, also from Wikipedia, "The 1918 flu pandemic…. was caused by an unusually virulent and deadly Influenza A virus strain of subtype H1N1…. It is estimated that anywhere from 20 to 100 million people were killed worldwide." It only takes a plane or a bus for one person to expose a handful of travelers and spread the flu.