I've been following the progression of the H1N1 Swine Flu closely all week because one of my primary job functions is to forecast demand for a large consumer products company. Further, we've seen some dip in sales this week, as the media has been focused on the potential pandemic in our midst. This is freightening from a business perspective, and as of yet, the reality of what may soon befall us hasn't hit home yet.
It just did, and it's scary as hell.
My 34 yr old sister is a 3rd grade teacher in a medium sized town in a state with no confirmed cases. Any teacher anywhere could at this point have been exposed to the H1N1 virus. Between the 2-7 day incubation period and the time it takes to actually confirm the virus infection, with the pathetic capacity of having 2 labs in all of N. America to actually run the tests, a case of sniffles on Tuesday morning could be swine flu for the whole class by Wednesday afternoon.
You start to realize there may be no stopping this and the world around us is about to change in ways we cannot yet comprehend.
Read More