Main focus of Monday, April 27, 2009

Fears rise over swine flu

Swine flu continues to spread. After more than 80 people died of the virus on the weekend in Mexico and around 1,300 people fell ill, the first suspected cases have been detected in Spain, France and Scotland, among other European countries. The World Health Organisation has now issued warnings of an international pandemic.

The Independent - United Kingdom

The liberal daily The Independent writes that global cooperation is needed to counter the swine flu threat: "It is vital that national governments exchange information on the location of outbreaks. The first swine flu death in Mexico occurred on 13 April, but mucus samples were not sent to the US Center for Diseases and Control until five days later. If this process had been quicker, there might have been a better chance of containing the outbreak. ... The crucial point is that we are all in this fight together. Crude national protectionism in the face of a flu pandemic will prove just as counter-productive as the restraint of trade in the face of global recession. Our best defence against the globalisation of disease is global co-operation." (27/04/2009)

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Lidové noviny - Czech Republic

The conservative daily Lidové Noviny reacts ambivalently to the spreading swine flu virus: "The world was missing something recently. Since the weekend we know what that something was: for some time we hadn't had an opportunity to panic about a new disease of civilisation. While the disease is spreading worldwide on live TV the experts can demonstrate how indispensable they are. So now we have swine flu. So far it has only caused deaths in Mexico but cases of infection have also come to light in the US and Canada. It's quite possible that swine flu will make an unwelcome appearance in Europe too. But perhaps it will die out and we can relegate it to the long catalogue of scary news reports about meat … which leads to nothing but the death of millions of animals." (27/04/2009)

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Lapin Kansa - Finland

The northern Finnish daily Lapin Kansa fears that in view of the swine flu threat, Finland could once more be faced with the problem of national self-sufficiency: "Everything works fine with importing food products as long as things go their normal course. But a small crisis can change all that. Food monitoring in Finland works well, but disagreeable surprises are not to be discounted altogether. But control resources should not be allowed to be affected by the economic recession. The true extent of this new swine flu scourge will only become evident in the weeks to come. In any case the news of the new virus type has got people scared here in the north as well. It shows once again that it's difficult to have a remedy for any and every grievance that might appear. Mexico is far from Finland. But everything is on the move in today's world, often at breakneck speeds." (27/04/2009)

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Ta Nea - Greece

The daily Ta Nea writes that the swine flu outbreak should not be allowed to trigger general panic. Rather the public needs to be properly informed and the mistakes of the past avoided: "Panic is always a bad adviser, particularly when it comes to public health. This also applies to swine flu, which must be combated both earnestly and with calm. … To prevent the spread of the virus good coordination is needed, so that the carriers [of the disease] can be isolated as soon as symptoms appear. The last time we faced a similar problem - with bird flu - the reaction of the authorities provoked great concern among the public because infected samples went missing [in Greece], so this time they must tackle the problem more responsibly." (27/04/2009)

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