Far From Over

Although the World Health Organization is not recommending travel restrictions, it is not safe to travel on the plane these days. If someone on the plane has already contracted the influenza A (H1N1) virus, the rest of the passengers have exposed to the risk of contracting the virus as well. The worst is that all of them may require to be in quarantine for several days.

Hundred of medical professionals and specialists from 40 countries met in Cancun, Mexico where the virus was first found. The gesture was to show that Mexico was a safe place to travel. Dr. Margaret Chan indicated that recommendations to avoid travel to Mexico, or to any other country or area with confirmed cases, serve no purpose. It was easy for her to provide a statement but to stay out of the virus, it would best be not traveling to country like the United States where many confimed cases were identified. Perhaps, it would best be not getting on the plane unless there is an urgent business. Maybe this would help stop the spreading of the virus.

Specialist warned the world that the virus could mutate into a more malicious form and come back in a few months for a more violent attack At that time, the death toll could rise and became the outbreak like the flu pandemic in 1918 that killed tens of millions people. “Watching how quickly H1N1 spread globally was quite disconcerting” said Canada’ Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq. “It is so important for countries to have a plan in place to be able to respond”.