Globalization of the Swine Flu

Last year, we were frightened by the outbreak of the Avian Flu in China, that spread to other parts of Asia, including Indonesia.

According to The Jakarta Globe, 119 people in Indonesia has has died because of the Avian Flu, which is the highest fatalities in the world.
While experts are still looking for the best medicine to cure this virus, suddenly the media reported about the outbreak of the Swine Flu Virus in Mexico killing more than 100 people, and spread to the United States of America, New Zealand and Australia.

Now that the Swine Flu has become Epidemic, many people would be vulnerable to this virus. Therefore, it is very important for us to take necessary steps to avoid the spread of this virus, as suggested by the Bernstein Crisis Management:

(1) Learn about Swine Flu e.g by visiting website of Center for Disease Control (CDC)which described that its symptom is similar to regular seasonal Human Flu i.e Fever, Lethargy, loss of Appetite, Coughing, and it cannot be spread by eating Pork.
(2) Anyone who catches Flu while traveling to Mexico should go to the doctor ASAP
(3) Employers should ensure that all employees know of this threat and are urged to report symptoms in themselves or others immediately
(4) Be prepared for business interruptions if your workforce is impacted; health officials could even quarantine groups of people who they believe have had direct contact with someone already infected.
(5) Have messaging ready for clients or customers who want to know what you're doing to protect them.
(6) If you have operations in Mexico, strongly consider a temporary freeze on outbound travel by employees there and inbound travel by employees already out of the country.
(7) Retail food organizations may get some customer fear about consuming pork. As noted above, the disease can't be spread that way. Nonetheless, your employees CAN spread the disease and common sense measures that are probably already in place(e.g. handwashing) should probably be the focus of refresher training.
(8) This disease spreads easily and become epidemics because people are not worried about it and do not take extra precautions.

As a country with Moslem majority who do not consume Swine/Pig/Pork, it is important for the people in Indonesia to understand that the Swine Flu does not spread through the consumption of Pork, but spreads just like a regular seasonal human Flu. This means that the virus can spread to anyone. And the best way to avoid it is by being healthy and watch out for any signs of Flu like Fever, Coughing, Lethargy. If there is any sign, we should immediately go to the doctor, Beside that we should also avoid going to countries where the virus has spread.