Cases of the Swine Flu Have Now Been Reported In New Jersey and South Carolina

Swine flu cases have now also been reported in New Jersey (has five reported cases) and in South Carolina, where an entire high school has had to be shut down. Totally, eight states have now reported cases of the swine flu. Of concern is the fact that many students are still in the processing of returning fro Spring Break in Mexico. In the U.S. patients are being treated wit Tamaflu, but Mexico has run out of its supply. Mexico has run out of masks that can help prevent the spread of this respiratory illness. This has caused a panic in Mexico, where all sports and other social events are being cancelled. Meanwhile, around the world, many airports have installed heat detectors to screen passengers to try to screen passengers that might be running a flu. Thus far, the estimated mortality rate for this swine flu rate appears to be between 6-8 percent. This compares to a 1-2 percent mortality rate for the 1918 worldwide flu epidemic. Even though the 1918 epidemic had a lower mortality rate, it nevertheless killed over 100 million people worldwide - more than all the people killed from World War I,