TPM Reader CW (no, not that CW — a real person):
The swine flu saga is still in its infancy, but it’s reasonable based on past events to assume two things: 1) the eventual impact will be far less severe than you would think watching the news, and 2) there will be a wave of amateur and professional criticism of the media’s (and possibly governments’) supposed overreaction. Last time this happened, I was one of those people.
But, again assuming that those things prove true, that’s not what I’m going to take away from all this. I’m going to be pretty damn impressed. The first news reports of abnormal influenza patterns came on April 5, from remote towns in central Mexico. “Swine flu” entered our lexicon on April 21, when a CDC alert reported two cases in California. On April 23 it was confirmed that this new strain was responsible for the outbreak in Mexico.
Four days later, a massive global awareness and preparedness effort, developed largely as a result of previous threats like SARS and bird flu, has kicked into high gear. Less than a week after the first reports of a possible pandemic, the entire developed world is aware of the situation. So, can we turn on cable news without listening to Norah O’Donnell remind us to wash our hands every ten minutes? No. But that’s exactly what should be happening.
