<r>To say that all media is suspect and not to be trusted seems to me to be a little paranoid. Surely there have to be SOME news agencies that are just giving the facts without inflating them.<br/>
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Wikipedia may be a little suspect for issues of contention or controversy, but the simple data on which countries the flu has reached which it's suspected to be in is there for any to look at it, sources listed. We have to at least be able to agree on <I><s><I>
</s>some<e></I></e></I> source of information's validity. Are you trying to say that the links I post are invalid because they come from "The Media?" If you're discounting all of the sources that come from news agencies, well, I don't think we'll get very far in this conversation. <br/>
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I'll risk it anyway. You have to trust sometime...<br/>
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Egypt has, according to the story, over 300,000 pigs: <URL url="
</s>The Associated Press: Egypt orders slaughter of all pigs over swine flu<e></e></URL><br/>
<QUOTE><s>
</s>Egypt began slaughtering the roughly 300,000 pigs in the country Wednesday as a precaution against swine flu even though no cases have been reported here, infuriating farmers who blocked streets and stoned vehicles of Health Ministry workers who came to carry out the government's order.<e>
</e></QUOTE>
Five to 300,000 is a little hard to exaggerate, even for "the media."<br/>
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I'd be happy as a pig in slop ( <E>
</E> ) if this was all just a conspiracy by "the media" to scare us into tuning in and the whole thing were to blow over without another death. I just don't see it unfolding that way.<br/>
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Nonetheless, I'd agree completely with your advice.
<QUOTE><s>
</s>What I take away from this is don't put yourself in unnecessary risk, wash those hands and get your rest and let the health officials do their jobs. <e>
</e></QUOTE>
After all, what else is there to do?<br/>
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But as to the fact that this could be another case of the boy who cried "bird flu..." if it is, it would appear that the WHO has been taken in by the media too.<br/>
<URL url="
</s>WHO Boosts Flu Alert Level to Phase V : NPR<e></e></URL><br/>
<QUOTE><s>
</s>NPR.org, April 29, 2009 · The World Health Organization increased its pandemic flu alert level Wednesday to Phase V — its second-highest level and a further indication that WHO scientists are seeing human-to-human spread of the virus in at least two countries.<br/>
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The announcement was made at a WHO news conference Wednesday in Geneva. There are numerous cases of human-to-human transmission in both Mexico and the United States. However, the WHO has until now hesitated to make the leap to Phase V because the cases of transmission within the United States are within tight-knit groups, in particular within schools.<br/>
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"It really is all of humanity that is under threat during a pandemic," WHO Director General Margaret Chan. "We do not have all the answers right now but we will get them."<br/>
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"All countries should immediately now activate their pandemic preparedness plans," she said.<br/>
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WHO official Keiji Fukuda said in news briefings Tuesday and Wednesday that officials were looking for signs that transmission is spreading out to neighborhoods and communities, not just susceptible groups such as schools and nursing homes.<br/>
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Monday, the WHO increased its alert stage from Phase III — which means that viruses are spreading from animals to people — to Phase IV, which is characterized by some human-to-human transmission.<br/>
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The step up to Phase V has been considered inevitable, as the number of cases has continued to rise.<e>
</e></QUOTE></r>
