We remember SARS back in 2003, then the bird flu two or three years ago, and now the swine flu outbreak has taken over the media incessantly.
We wonder sometimes how news like this make headlines for two or three months until the popularity - or panic - dissolves and the story’s importance plateaus… and then picks up again at slower rate, when it eventually dies. That’s usually the cycle of news.
I’m not going to explore here whether the flu will turn into a pandemic, it already sounds more serious that previous outbreaks, but it is interesting to follow this story as it affects the public directly, and so immediately.
The impact on travel is another tie in to this specific story. We all know of people, colleagues, friends or acquaintances that took a trip to Mexico and are now back, and worried. And how does the flu affect air travel, driving and crossing the border and simply interacting with others? Is this headline advising us that the flu is so close to home, or should it be something to just be generally aware of? Is this really the time to panic, or not yet?
Relating to the most recent NYTimes story on this, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/28/health/28docs.html?ref=health, gathering information and staying aware of our surroundings is all we can do at this time. From a PR perspective this item is not going anywhere anytime soon. Depending which way the facts are reported on the swine flu, the story will escalate a lot more.
It will be interesting to follow it over the next few weeks and see how the public is influenced and how it will respond to the media’s reporting.