Swine Flu - False Alarm?

In the last 24 hours, Mexican health authorities have dramatically revised the mortality figures for the disease.

Although the government cites almost 170 "suspicious" deaths possibly attributable to the new "swine flu" strain, it has never verified more than 20.

Now, after a closer review of those 20 cases, it has revised the number downward, admitting that there are only twelve deaths proven to be associated with the virus throughout the entire country, out of a total of only 260 verified illnesses. However, it is not known how many cases have occurred unreported in people who were never hospitalized.

Although the number of "suspicious" deaths may seem alarming, it is actually tiny compared to the number of total flu deaths that are likely to occur on an annual basis in Mexico.

Indeed, the Mexican government reports that there are an average of 20,000 pneumonia deaths in Mexico every year. Influenza normally kills its victims by causing pneumonia.

The alarmist statements trumpeted by the major media are also in sharp contrast to the total lack of non-Mexican deaths due to the virus. Although the disease has appeared in multiple countries, only one person outside of Mexico has died of it -- a Mexican boy who had crossed into Texas with his family to visit relatives.

So far, no one in NZ seems particularly sick with it, even though swine flu has been identified here.

Related Link: Is There Really an Influenza Epidemic? ~ Matthew Cullinan Hoffman, Latin America Correspondent, LifeSiteNews