Swine flu hype?

via Gapminder.org

This prompts the question? What happened to SARS? What happened to the Avian flu H5N1? Part of the silence on these diseases can be attributed to the success of our infectious disease agencies like the World Health Organization and the Center for Infectious Disease and Control. Another part could be hype.

It's easy to be dismissive in hindsight, though... and it's too early to tell which world-wide pandemic will result in economic disruption and chaos.


Other fun links:
Hans Rosling: TED talk on Stats. It is very amusing to hear him make it sound like a sports broadcast!