Swine Flu: Don’t Panic

Conn Carroll / April 28, 2009

Swine flu panic has claimed it s first victim. Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY) is calling for the Mexican border to be shut down. He told The Hill: “The public needs to be aware of the serious threat of swine flu, and we need to close our borders to Mexico immediately and completely until this is resolved.”

Massa’s statement is irresponsibly insane. Heritage fellow James Carafano explains:

There are some basic facts that Americans ought to know. The first is that the news coverage is driven more by the unusual nature of the disease than how serious it might be. The swine flu appeared at what is normally considered the “end” of the flu season. A flood of cases now is not common.
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The bottom line is we do not have near all the facts yet, and the ones we do have so far say: don’t panic, don’t rush to judgment.

For now we should all just wash our hands and go to the doctor if we have flu symptoms.