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Kuwait: Swine Flu Blues

Categories: Middle East & North Africa, Kuwait, Health, Travel

Salutations from Kuwait City! Even though election related stories are dominating the Arabic-language blogs, this week the Swine Flu seems to be the story in the English-language blogosphere, among other topics.

We kick off today's round up with a post entitled ‘Freaking Out From Swine Flu,’ in which Danderma [1] speaks of her manic compulsive sanitation habits not being enough to combat the dreaded Swine Flu:

I am literally freaked!!! I am the kind of person who get flu 600 times a year! And I do admit to have the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder thingy which can go very wrong!!! I already wash my hands with dettol 1000 times aday!!!! Flu has reached the UK! THey are testing people’s temperatures in Kuwait Airport Now! There is no Vaccine agasnt it until next Sep!
What to do?! Stop Travelling? Hide in our homes? Wear a mask? Become the next Michael Jackson?! I do not blame the guy anymore! Bird Flu Dog Flu Fish Flu Horse Flu Swine Flu!!!!It is like something from those movies… where a plague moves all around the world… i am thinking 28 days later and shuddering!!!!

Teachmasses School Days [2] is angry that the Swine Flu outbreak of 1976 did not lead to the development of a vaccine. In a post entitled “Swine flu conspiracy 1976” the blogger remarks:

This is NOT the first time there has been an outbreak of Swine Flu- Oh no…….SO WHY DIDN’T THEY DEVELOP A BLOODY VACCINE? There was a ‘contained outbreak’ in Fort Dix in the US in 1976. And what is even less encouraging about that little snippet, is exactly how and why swine flu was contained at the military base remains as mysterious as the strain’s origins.

Twenty Three [3] gives us another take in a post entitled ‘What a load of Mexican Swine!‘ in which the blogger alludes to Sky TV reporter Edna Brady's description of Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5 as ‘bizzare’ and continues:

“You see pictures and reports from Mexico online and on TV,” Brady explained. “But actually seeing people at Heathrow walking round in masks really brings home the scale of this problem, and how worried people are.”

Twenty Three asks guests travelling to Kuwait to wear a mask and take precautions, adding:

This is becoming much more of a crisis than first thought…..If you look at the muslim countries, you’ll see for the meantime, we are safe……. BUT, only if we keep this OUT. People please, wear masks travelling into Kuwait.

Lastly, DixieBedouin [4] offers an interesting link with background on the Swine Flu: Flying Pigs, Tamiflu and Factory Farms [5].