The «Swine Flu»: A Timeout Till Autumn
May 13, 2009
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If we were to believe journalists, “swine flu” A/H1N1 and alarming news about it have the world’s media discussing it, for the first time appeared in the Mexican village La Gloria, located very near pig farms owned by the company Carrol. Numerous settling pits, concrete “pools” filled with semi-decomposed carcasses, myriads of flies that spread infection – is the usual habitat of these villagers. Sharp day and night temperature drops provoke catarrhal diseases; symptoms of grippe are usual here. It is quite possible that this dangerous for humans place has grown this virus. Speaking about the virus, professor Anthony Fawcey, the director of US National Institute for the Studies of Allergies and Infectious Diseases did not choose nice words: “We have never had it. The local population does not have genetic immunity against this virus; it is passes on from one human being to another. These factors are indicative of pandemic proportions.”
Mexico turned into a global outcast overnight. Such isolation can possibly be felt in North Korea. The scale of hysteria pounded by the media made seasoned political analysts and commentators believe that the world faces the coming “viral Armageddon”. A number of governments took radical measures to reassure their nations. The Egyptian authorities did not hesitate to destroy the entire livestock of pigs. Airlines in Peru, Argentina, Ecuador and several other countries stopped flying to Mexico. Latin America vetoed sports competitions with Mexican participation. Mexican cattle breeders now face almost insurmountable difficulties at customs offices worldwide.
But it soon turned out that Mexican statistics about the death toll the “swine flu” has taken was exaggerated and over-dramatized. But there was no way of verifying it, as Western media posted mutually agreed-upon data and interpretation of cases of disease and the spread of the virus. Newspapers had it that as of early May it took the lives of 160 Mexicans with a total of 2,500 registered cases. Even more alarming was the fact that the virus attacked North Americans. If even Americans are failing to cope with the virus, the situation is really bad. Right-wing media in the western hemisphere and Europe went out of their way to put more oil into the fire. The current era of instability and crises makes the man in the street take most catastrophic forecasts. Ordinary people can be inculcated with anything. Only those experts that tend to follow the principle “the worse the better” feel comfortable in these circumstances. The worse the news, the easier it is for them to offer their arguments and to efficiently dwell on the concept of the ominous global conspiracy against the steady social foundations.
There are two versions of would-be developments. The optimistic one has it that the preventive measures helped stave off the threat of the “swine flu” at its earliest, and in summer it would finally die. In my view the pessimistic version looks more convincing as it explains the sudden weakening of the information pressing connected with the epidemic. By and large, in the United States people were just a little alarmed taking a break and forgetting about their situations in the crisis for a while. In Mexico the previous “proved” death statistics were divided by ten and austerity measures taken to fight the “swine flu” were softened; there are now more people in the streets, restaurants and cafes, and there are more shoppers. But it may be only a brief time-out. According to Latin American experts the next attack of a crueler A/H1N1 version can begin next autumn or winter. Where would it start? In Brazil? Venezuela? Cuba? Or in Asia?
We all remember the extremely abrupt response of Chinese authorities towards “the Mexican threat.” Nothing loath they quarantined visitors from the Land of Aztecs, presumably without sufficient reasons. Further developments included official statements the Mexican government handed over to Chinese authorities on the account of the defiantly indecent attitude to Mexicans as if all of them were lepers.
It may even look as if the Chinese government owns confidential information that can point at the possibility of “purposeful use” of the virus A/H1N1 against its population, definitely not by Mexicans, but by some other “interested side.” Can this be possible? It can, should we recall the denge epidemic that swept Cuba in the 1980s. The disease took the lives of several thousand people before they succeeded in treating this terrible disease developed in North American secret laboratories. And now we are facing a new threat that flares up in sounding battles of the media. Forecasts of Vanga-style clairvoyants, top US officials of the previous administration made speaking about “cruel global upheavals” Obama and his team would face. Is the would-be global pandemic (that has been just rehearsed in its mild version before the whole world) one of such upheavals?
With reference to Venezuelan columnist D.Kahn, the biological bomb has become a significant element of the fourth generation war. It has virtually replaced the A-bomb that was denounced by many after its use in Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the very imperialism that at present tries to pose as an innocent little kid. But did thousands of people not die of the so-called Asian flu and the horrendous AIDS, whose HIV virus has the brand “Made in USA” (it has been proven)? At first it was to be used to get rid of human beings in “higher risk” groups, including homosexuals, drug abusers, prostitutes, and so forth. Now they are sending us “the Gringo flu virus” erroneously dubbed “the swine flu.”
The Latin American countries with “populist regimes” have so far been sceptical about the threat of the epidemic. Mario Sylva, a commentator at a Venezuelan government’s TV channel called the opposition’s hullabaloo around the “swine flu” “the information and psychological terrorism.” Not a single “swine flu” case has been registered in that country. Nevertheless, anti-government TV and radio broadcasters as well as the printed media launched a noisy intimidation campaign definitely taking counsel with the USA. Its leitmotif is: “Chavez does nothing to avert the lethal danger to Venezuela!” The adversaries of his regime make attempts to provoke feelings of the total vulnerability, distrust of the competence of the authorities and fatalism. In the circumstanced of mass hysteria the opposition will have better chance to manipulate Venezuelans to involve them in its acts of de-stabilization of the Bolivarian government. But by and large Venezuelans resist the methods of “information and psychological terrorism.” Chavez has stated that the Bolivarian government controls the situation, and people believe him. No Venezuelan wears the prevention masks. The two girls with such masks on appeared on the opposition TV channel “Globovision”, but Maria Sylva is certain that they are on the staff of the channel, and the scene was programmed specially for reporters. As other Latin Americans Venezuelans believe that the noise around “the deadly swine flu” is used by transnational corporations monopolizing the pharmaceuticals market. In this connection they most often refer to former US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who helps his companions, pharmaceutics capitalists to alleviate the crisis, and moreover, to earn fat profits.
Exploitation of fear has always been profitable. But there are diseases much more dangerous than the “swine epidemic” (WHO reports indicate 17 real victims). 16,000 children all over the world die of starvation every year, 8,000 people - of malaria, 6,000 die of AIDS, but no one hears alarmed voices.
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“The swine flu” has inspired manufacturers of souvenirs who now turn out new types of products. T-shirts with the Mexican flag in the form of a pig are “in” in the United States with a legend that is not at all complimentary to the country that “gave birth” to the epidemic. In Mexico, the current craze is a plush impression of the A/H1N1 virus, a hairy roll poisonously dyed navy-blue and named Achufi. The marketing programme offers a script reading: “Buy this little plush toy as a souvenir of the 2009 epidemic breaking out in Mexico due to “the swine flu.” You can boast it before your friends, and your grandchildren would learn about this historic event.” Many Mexicans denounce such dealers with this attitude towards the new virus that may not have yet said its last word, but then there are others who approve of the cute traders, saying: ”A brilliant idea; nice work!”
My friend has just returned from Ecuador to Mexico; he had bought several serpent-eyed Achufies for souvenirs. I asked him what he would do if the virus relapsed. Richie answered in his typical manner: “Beware of provocations and take traditional Mexican medicine – a glass of tequila with a slice of lemon and a pinch of salt.”