Editorial: Fears swell over swine flu

The dreaded swine flu continues to spread along with fear of a pandemic.

President Barack Obama says "this is, obviously, a cause for concern and requires a heightened state of alert. But it's not a cause for alarm."

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says, "We are proceeding as if we are preparatory to a full pandemic."

The World Health Organization has raised its pandemic alert level to 4 on a 6-point scale. And the images of hospital-masked men, women and children from Mexico — ground zero for this flu outbreak — haunt our television screens.

As of yet, there are no known cases of the swine flu in Virginia or the Washington region, but who knows how long that will last? Dr. Alison Ansher, director of the Prince William County Health District said, "This is a very fluid situation and rapidly changing."

Until the flu becomes a more dire threat locally, officials are using the calm to prepare. Ansher met with area government officials Monday to talk about possible responses to an outbreak of the swine flu.

Most of us can remember previous potential pandemics like the SARS epidemic and the avian flu, both of which avoided wiping out the human race as some doomsday prognosticators were expecting. So, it is possible that the current fears are overblown. But even if that is so, we are glad that officials at all levels are taking this as seriously as they are.

The difference between a pandemic and a scary flu that dominates the news cycles for a little while before fading into obscurity could be the actions taken by our government. It is possible that the swine flu won't spread as easily as some anticipate or that it won't be as deadly as we fear. However, the opposite is possible too. But, if our government acts quickly, comprehensively and correctly, then any killer flu could be neutralized.

It takes serious consideration for serious actions to take place, and our government is clearly not taking the swine flu lightly. So we have confidence in our public officials, and we feel secure in the knowledge that the United States can weather whatever outbreaks come our way.

Stafford County Sun editorials represent the opinion of the managing editor. Other columns, letters and cartoons on his page express the opinions of the authors and not necessarily the Stafford County Sun.