Swine flu outbreak in USA causes fear in Spain and Europe

Today I woke up around 6:00 AM and went to school like normal; however, when I arrived I got quite the surprise.  In fact, as soon as I walked through the door, I was surrounded by my coworkers telling me that the European Health Commissioner had recommended that nobody travel to the USA or Mexico because of a recent swine flu outbreak.  This came as quite a shock to me because I hadn’t really watched the news yesterday and I had no idea that there had even been a swine flu outbreak in the USA.  Thus, as soon as I had a few moments at school, I went online and found this article which does confirm that EU officials are cautioning European travelers not to go to America.  Apparently, there are also some confirmed cases of people in Europe having the disease and authorities say that the people here who have contracted swine flu have had some type of recent contact with either the USA or Mexico. 

The whole “swine flu scare” that is occurring right now in Spain reminds me a little of what happened in the USA a few years ago when mad cow disease broke out in Europe.  People from the USA who traveled to Europe were cautioned not to eat beef and generally Americans were a bit afraid that if they went to Europe, they would contract mad cow.  Now, the same thing seems to be happening, but reversed: it’s now the Europeans who are afraid to travel to America for fear of getting ill. 

I guess this reaction is something normal: after all, you always feel “safer” in your home country and when some type of “disaster” occurs abroad that could threaten you at home, it’s natural to get a little “uneasy” — especially because you have no control over the situation abroad.  That’s probably how Americans felt when mad cow broke out in Europe a few years ago and I think that’s how Spaniards and other Europeans are feeling now that swine flu has broken out in the Americas. 

What will happen next?  That’s hard to tell.  Both Spain and the USA say they are effectively equipped to battle swine flu with vaccines and other medications, so I’m going to try not to worry too much.

Hasta luego,
–Chris
http://abroadinspain.com