The title of a recently released Yahoo! article is "WHO: Swine flu now a pandemic, 1st in 41 years". Wow, that sounds scary. So, the million-dollar question is: should we be freaking out?

This question is answered in the first 2 sentences of this report: "Swine flu is now formally a pandemic, a declaration by UN health officials that will speed (up) vaccine production to combat the first flu pandemic in 41 years". Sound scary? The WHO seems unfazed and undaunted: "Thursday's announcement by the World Health Organization doesn't mean (that) the virus is any more lethal - ONLY THAT ITS SPREAD IS NOW CONSIDERED UNSOPPABLE" and this has already frightened some people and officials out of their minds.

According to WHO Director-general Margaret Chan, "THE WORLD is moving into the early days of its first influenza pandemic in the 21st century". Chan is clearly trying to clean up her tainted image that Hongkongers got of her during the 2003 SARS outbreak that ultimately killed 299 people. During that crisis, CHAN WAS HEAVILY CRITICIZED BECAUSE SHE FOLLOWED MAINLAND CHINA TOO CLOSELY IN PLAYING DOWN THE SEVERITY OF THAT OUTBREAK.

Accoding to Yahoo!, "Dr. Thomas Frieden, the new head of the US Centers For Disease Control and Prevention said in Atlanta that he does not expect widespread public anxiety in the United States as a result of the declaration, noting (that) IT CAME NEARLY TWO MONTHS AFTER THE VIRUS WAS FIRST IDENTIFIED". So...is the US well prepared now?

Here's another alarming statistic: "In Chile, authorities have identified 1700 cases according to WHO officials". We didn't know this yesterday.

According to Dr. Michael Osterholm, a flu expert at the University of Minnesota, "This is (the) WHO FINALLY catching up with the facts". Osterholm is essentially asking: what took the WHO so long to acknowledge that we had a pandemic staring at us in the face?

David Rupeik, a risk perception and communication expert at Harvard University credited the relatively rapid control of the swine flu to a "soft buildup". Specifically, here's what Rupeik had to say in an e-mail to the Associated Press: "That allows people to get used to WHAT IS OTHERWISE A VERY SCARY WORLD, understand the particulars of a disease and that should mean REACTION WILL BE A LITTLE MORE INFORMATION-BASED AND A LITTLE LESS EMOTIONAL". So, this is a battle between rational and emotional responses once again.

As far as what the WHO's contingency measures will be, Fukuda was blunt: "UNDERSTAND IT, PUT IT IN CONTEXT AND THEN YOU GET ON WITH THINGS". Surely, we don't want huge metropolitan cities like Tokyo or Hong Kong turning into virtual ghost towns like we saw during the 2003 SARS outbreak during which businesses essentially ground to a screeching halt and we could almost count the number of people on the street at any given time.

According to Health & Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, "What this declaration does do is REMIND THE WORLD THAT FLU VIRUSES LIKE H1N1 NEED TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY", but where can we draw a line between taking things seriously and freaking out?

According to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, "We must guard against RASH AND DISCRIMINATORY ACTION, SUCH AS TRAVEL BANS AND TRADE RESTRICTIONS".

The Secretary-General made a very interesting and perhaps controversial point. Here's some strong evidence of people freaking out. According to Yahoo!, "Fear has already gripped Argentina, WHERE THOUSANDS HAVE FLOODED HOSPITALS THIS WEEK, BRINGING EMERGENCY HEALTH SERVICES IN BUENOS AIRES TO THE BRINK OF COLLAPSE DURING WINTER WEATHER. Last month a bus arriving in Argentina from Chile was stoned by people WHO THOUGHT A PASSENGER HAD SWINE FLU". While health officials are pleading for calm in the face of spiking worldwide outbreaks, it is clear that some people have become hysterically afraid.

Looking at the next Yahoo! statement, "CHINA has quarantined travelers, including New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin, ON THE SLIGHTEST SUSPICION OF CONTACT WITH AN INFECTED PERSON". Mr. Secretary-General, is this action justified or "rash and discriminatory"?

Finally, Dr. Chan said that "Countries where outbreaks APPEAR TO HAVE PEAKED should prepare for a second wave of outbreaks". This will occur as the Northern Hemisphere moves from summer into autumn and winter. If health officials are trying to keep us calm, they aren't doing a very good job.