The Flu

I'm just curious: Is anyone out there worried about this new strain of the flu?

I live in Toronto, which was hit by SARS back in 2003. Several dozen people here died a terrible death. To the outside world, it looked like our city was under siege, but as someone who lived here at that time, I can say that life went on absolutely as usual, except for healthcare workers, or those who had caught the disease after having been in China, or been in contact with someone who had the disease. I don't mean to sound flippant about it, because it was a horrible disease, but the vast majority of Torontonians went about their business as if nothing had happened.

This time around, it's Mexico that's the centre of the outbreak. Here in Canada, we've had fewer than 100 mild cases and no deaths. However, officials are saying that this virus can mutate quickly and turn into something a lot more vicious. It might also abate over the summer and then come back with a fury in the fall.

Right now, I'm not feeling too worried, however hubby and I did go out to the grocery store yesterday to start stocking up on water and non-perishables. We can't bring ourselves to buy things like Spam, which I would only eat under the most dire of circumstances, but we bought things like beans, which we can use to make chili once the alert is over; some granola bars, which the kids can eat from time to time as a snack; crackers; tuna; canned fruit, etc.

How about you?