By Richard N. Baldwin T. /HispanicVista.com

     Much has been written about the spring "swine flu" epidemic that started out in México, but here I offer a little more personal view.

     I had already planned a three-day visit of the state fair at Aguascalientes in the middle of April when I heard a few comments about a spring flue outbreak in México. But nothing was going to make me change my plans to visit México's largest state fair.

     The Festivo San Markos (the fair's official name) is about as big as the Milwaukee fair in Wisconsin. But it is somewhat different. First is a casino section with real honest to Las Vegas gambling tables. Also is a large restaurant section with first class permanent buildings and first class meals in dining rooms. And since the state of Aguascalientes is a big brandy producer, plenty of that is available along with a popular beer concoction known as "mickelager". This is served in quart paper cups and is a mixture of beer, lemon juice, and spices including Worcestershire sauce with salt. I would not advise more than one in an afternoon.

     Of course are the animal exhibits, leaning toward bulls (a product of that area for bullfights), lots of stands to buy things and a large up to date carnival rides section. People come from all over México to go to this fair. And I mean lots and lots of people.

     So, I arrived on Sunday morning, the 19th of June and we covered the casinos, had a fine meal in a good restaurant, and covered some of the many small stands. We planned to come back on Monday to continue our grand tour.

     On Monday morning, my wife heard that the fair had been closed due to the flu outbreak. She confirmed this by calling a local radio station and I sat in disbelief. It was true. The fair, due to run for three weeks closed after the first week. First time in 150 years.

     Driving through town later, many businesses were closed and army personnel were handing out facemasks at intersections, free of charge. In fact, the whole city (a state capitol) was as quiet as a tomb. The federal government was asking everybody to stay at home as much as possible and avoid any crowds. And going past the fairgrounds, there were all of the big rides and so on, but deserted.

     When I flew back to México (City) on Wednesday, there was a medical type checking travelers over before boarding for signs of anybody looking sick. And the first thing handed out on the plane were sealed antiseptic towels for the hands. After arriving in México, I found that the government had asked all "nonessential" business to remain closed for 5 days. This included not only factories but also restaurants, sporting events, movie theaters, schools and even churches. Sport teams played to empty stands and TV cameras. Same for church services; stay at home and watch. And traffic in the big city was almost nonexistent.

     After five days, and with the rate of infections dropping, things gradually returned to normal. But remember that this occurred during an economic downturn, which only added to the existing financial burden. Two thousand restaurants in the DF closed for good. This took political courage to do. Mobile clinics remained all over at shopping centers where you could go for check ups if you had any symptoms. And a new job opened up at the supermarkets: Washing the handles of shopping carts with disinfectant.

     México bashers blame México for the whole thing, of course. But the United States did recognize that trying to seal off the border completely and rapidly would be impossible. And events proved that México did a good job containing the outbreak. But as always happens, epidemics always end up going around the world, regardless of any efforts. It is now starting to infect Asia, but in the US and Canada, the rate has been very low.

     To those who claim that México was slow to react, (the first cases started to appear in late February and March in eastern Mexico) at first nothing alarming was happening outside of a slightly above average incidence of common colds and common flu. It was only after deaths in people between 20 and 40 years old that drew attention to something different. And México was working with Canada, the US CDC, and the WHO of the UN immediately after a Canadian laboratory working with México discovered the new flu strain. From the start, México was wide open to work in tandem with exterior heath organizations on this issue. México has had 78 deaths confirmed from the new flu (properly known as A/H1N1) but none for the last two weeks. The US has had 2 confirmed deaths so far. Compared to a normal fall/winter flu season, these are light numbers.

     A friend of mine in China did some research on flu outbreaks and noted that there were outbreaks on "swine flu" back in the 50s and 70s. This would explain older people still having some resistance to the H1N1 virus type, while younger people would not have that advantage. And this strain (A/H1N1) seems to be a combination of swine, bird and human flu. A new modification, as viruses like to do continually.

     The big question is what may happen in the fall because in 1918, there was a mild outbreak in the spring, but it came back with a vengeance in the fall to the tune of more than 50 million killed by the end of that outbreak. But one thing is for sure; the world is better equipped to contain an epidemic than it was in 1918.

     México has received complements from both the US CDC and WHO for taking appropriate action rapidly.

     Someone should explain this to our local political clown, Andres Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), who lost the last presidential election but still struts around calling himself the "Legitimate President" (and sometimes wearing the presidential sash to boot). He called this an exercise in ineptitude.

     Get real, AMLO.
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Richard N. Baldwin T., a HispanicVista.com (www.hispanicvista.com) contributing columnist, lives in Tlalnepantla, Edo de México. E-mail at: R1041643422@aol.com