What Will be the Next Pandemic for Mexico?
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Editorial May 16, 2009 |
-->First drug trafficking, and now Influenza.
What will be the next pandemic for Mexico?
By Laura Wong
When I first heard the first observations about swine flu I did not pay much attention. Soon, when things worsened dramatically, and the television channels, newspapers and radio reports began to increase their coverage, I reflected on the terrible consequences that this news could bring to the tourist sector of the region, and so it was …
In Baja California we have experienced a totally disastrous two year period in the tourist sector that has devastated most of the commercial, hotel and restaurant sectors of the locality. The alert emitted by the United States government was decisive such that most of California visitors stopped coming to our vacation state. While the local offices in charge of tourist promotion worked arduously to obtain new markets and to eliminate the dependency on the United States, a new problem beset us. The true pandemic came: People no longer were worried about the violence along the border; the real preoccupation was Swine flu.
If we took into account that more than 30.000 people die annually in the United States due to complications derived from seasonal influenza, the 48 death cases of in Mexico due to Swine Influenza (now called the H1N1 virus) do not seem remarkable to me, since it has been said repeatedly we have a national problem, or rather, a global one.
The virus is curable, and neither thousands nor millions of people have died, not even hundreds of people. Although cases in several countries have been registered, the number is minimal. Nevertheless, the impact for Mexico is enormous.
I caught stories of some Mexicans in Beijing, guarded by the Chinese police, who were put under observation in a hotel that left much to be desired. With regard to Tourist quality; it was dirty and old. None of the Mexicans displayed any symptoms of flu. The conduct of Chinese authorities was inappropriate. Aside from being cruel, their reaction was exaggerated. I understand the damage that bird influenza caused in Asia some years ago; however, in spite of having been tested several times and not resulting positive, the Mexican tourists were kept confined. The decision of the Egyptian government to slaughter all the pigs because of the possible risk of infection was another reaction which, in my personal opinion, was inadequate also.
Although the H1N1 virus did not cause great general health damage, the reality is that, yes, it was a true pandemic for the Mexicans and mainly for the tourist sector which has been in this case, the most affected.
We now have two; what will be the third reason not to visit Mexico??
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This editorial appeared in the May 16-30, 2009 issue of the Baja Times.