It is offical now. The H1N1 virus is declared the fastest moving pandemic of all time by no less an authority than the World Health Organization (WHO). Barely one month after declaring a pandemic, the WHO now says it’s pointless to report the number of infected cases because the number is growing too fast all over the world.
When the press reported recently that the US has 1 million cases of H1N1 flu virus, people find it hard to believe. Now the British Government is saying that by the end of August, Britain will have more than 100,000 new cases of H1N1 a day! That 1 million mark will then be reached in Britain in a mere 10 days. According to the WHO, the H1N1 flu virus takes 6 weeks to reach such a major global pandemic while past pandemics usually took around 6 months. That’s how fast this H1N1 virus is speeding round the world.
But although this H1N1 flu virus is moving so fast, it is thus far not really as deadly as past pandemics. Of course we do not know how this H1N1 virus will mutate when it hits the world in a second round attack soon. Let’s look at some statistics from past deadly pandemics.
In the 20th century, Smallpox accounted for 300-500 million deaths. The Spanish Flu lasted 2 years and caused the death of 50-100 million people. The Black Plague killed 75 million people worldwide. And AIDS has killed 25 million people since 1981.
Such statistics are shocking and frightening. But think about it. If the Black Plague alone wiped out between one-third and two-thirds of Europe’s polulation, what if a more potent strain of H1N1 flu virus were to strike in the second wave of attack? What if the casualty next time round is one-third to two-thirds of all mankind globally? Can the world’s healthcare systems cope in such a situation? Will the world be wiped out eventually? Will we be looking then at a end-of-the-world scenario?
Think about it. The H1N1 flu virus – fastest moving pandemic, but where is it leading mankind to?
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