Not the Pork!

As I am starting not hate the news, I've started to watch CNN a little bit more and I started to hear about this swine flu. Of course it's CNN so I zone in and out and only catch bits and pieces. I keep thinking nothing about it because it's in New York. As I get on here to write a new cover letter (not telling you why... can't jinks it... crap I may have said too much) I see on my WRAL and News and Observer RSS feeds a story... The swine flu in North Carolina.

What? How did that happen, then I started to remember, it's freaking North Carolina... Smithfield pork is here and that we have 900 business that deal with pork. We even have a pork council! First I had to deal with West Nile while in Toledo and now the swine flu. Why are we getting the flu from pigs? I read the story and mostly people are getting the flu because they were in Mexico. Then I read this douse of a line;

Although the the flu has been deadly in Mexico, it appears to be mild in
the United States, where 40 people have had confirmed cases.

Why is the US strain less deadly? So I go to where all people get "reliable information... Wikipedia. The entry for swine flu is well medical at best and does not tell me if I am going to die. I then type into google "Will I die from swine flu" and I find a story on CBSnews.com that tells me:

Tamiflu, that have been shown to be effective, but they need to be taken within
days of the first symptoms

What are the freaking symptoms! The article is also telling me to not freak out. Too late for that, because you are making it sound like I'm in a bad episode of 24 and I have to go on a rampage to find this miracle drug or I might die because I don't knowwhat the symptoms are.

The same CBS article tells me not to travel to Mexico (Check), wash my hands and cover my mouth when I sneeze and cough. So is sneezing and coughing a symptom? Crap I'm going through allergies right now. Maybe it's the swine flu, I've had that for a month now. Am I allowed to play the game Pass the Pigs? I mean it has little pigs in it, how am I to know if they have the flu or not... I'm so going to turn into a swine zombie I know it.