Story on Front Page of Traditional Newspaper - - Swine Flu Outbreak

The front page of the New York Times today published an article entitled, “U.S. Declares Public Health Emergency Over Swine Flu”. U.S. health officials announced this morning that there is a public health emergency taking place, due to several cases of the swine flu that have been surfacing. There have been 20 confirmed cases of it in the United States, and several more are expected to be seen as investigation takes place to track the path of the outbreak. Eight cases have been confirmed in New York, seven in California, two in Kansas, two in Texas, and one in Ohio; and it is believed that these cases very closely resemble the swine flu outbreak that took place in Mexico recently, killing over 80 people and infecting over 1,300 individuals.

Although there is certainly reason to be alarmed, officials are telling Americans not to panic as most of the cases that have been found in the United States are mild ones, claiming no lives and causing only one victim to be hospitalized. Nevertheless, the emergency declaration that has been followed is standard operating procedure, according to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, in order to be prepared if and when the disease does turn drastically dire. More severe cases are expected to be surfacing, so the procedures that the Centers for Disease Control are practicing are definitely a good thing.

Accordingly, other governments all throughout the globe are preparing themselves for the outbreak, in the event that it enters their land as well. There are reports of possible cases existing in quite a few countries, including Canada, New Zealand, China, Spain, and Russia; and concerns of a possible global pandemic are beginning to be alarmed. Security measures are being taken to monitor travelers from Mexico coming into the United States for any signs of the disease. Some countries have even banned imports from Mexico to enter their boarders, in the event that the products contain traces of the disease.

In this two-page article, the New York Times has sufficiently covered the several aspects associated with this possible-pandemic, and it is popping up on news stations and media coverage all throughout the mainstream media. Hopefully all of this coverage will end in enough measures being taken to prevent the disease from infecting even more victims, and from becoming even more severe in its side-effects.