Column:

Swine flu is no joke

The bird flu had us crying wolf.

By Jacob Houska

Published May 1, 2009

Two years ago, Oprah dedicated an entire episode to educating America about the bird flu. This virus, she said, could possibly kill millions.

After the show, I began hearing about how it could be "bigger than AIDS," or how "It killed millions of birds, so we're next." To date, a grand total of one person in the U.S. has contracted the bird flu and it was in 2003, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That lone person survived.

Then I heard about the swine flu, which seemed eerily similar to the bird flu. It was caused by a gene mutation, and an animal virus was beginning to attack humans. I figured it was just this year's version of the disease that would scare us all, and after we realized it was ridiculous we could all start being normal people again.

That is not the case.

People have been dying, particularly in Mexico, where it has been reported to cause 159 deaths and counting. In the U.S., 109 people have had lab-confirmed cases, including one death, as of press time. Since the disease tends to just go away like a normal flu, there are probably quite a few other cases that aren't "lab confirmed." It is indefinitely more prominent than statistics suggest.

All of a sudden, we have a good reason to be worried.

Ever heard the story "The Boy Who Cried Wolf?" That's what happened with this most recent Swine Flu pandemic for me, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. I scoffed at the idea some virus could come from a pig and randomly infect a bunch of people, and kill a handful of others. Then more than 240 deaths and 2,500 infections later, I'm starting to think this isn't a joke.

Aside from being a sneaky disease that is barely distinguishable from one of the most common viruses on the planet -- until it kills you -- it is also having a profound effect on the economy, and it couldn't come at a worse time. People are pouring money into pharmaceutical companies, but aside from that, everything else is either flat-lining or losing money. Although this is far from the first or last time America will lose money, this time it stings a little more because Congress just dumped $700 billion into the market to revive the economy.

It is a bit hypocritical of me to say, but the media is almost completely responsible for the effect it has had on the economy. My hope is, however, that a few people can read this and understand that right now isn't the time for investors to sit on their hands, just because there's a chance they could get a virus that has been cured in 99 percent of its cases in the U.S. Even if you were going to get the swine flu in three days, spending money now and restoring confidence in the economy isn't going to change that. As a matter of fact, there's nothing you can really do to completely avoid getting a contagious disease, unless you're into becoming a complete social outcast for a few months. You can avoid Mexico City for a while, but other than that, keep living your life.

The biggest contributors to every peril we face are psychological, and if people could realize this, they could act normal when the world is telling them to freak out. That would prevent adding insult to injury, as has been the case with the swine flu.