Will The Pigs Come Back To Haunt Us?

Want to know what would happen if swine flu returns in the fall a la1918? One of the world’s foremost global health writers tells us.

Council on Foreign Relations fellow Laurie Garrett commended nations on the coordinated effort taken so far to retard the spread of swine flu since it broke out in March. But the cooperation we have seen, she said in a conversation with Big Think yesterday, has much to do with the fact that H1N1 is a relatively mild form of the fly virus.

“If this organism undergoes mutations and changes between now and the

fall as it circulates in the southern hemisphere and takes on greater

virulence a lot of this goodwill could break down.”

Garrett painted a scenario in which rich nations stockpiled medicines to

protect their citizens and poor countries took the brunt of a

potential outbreak.

The full interview with Ms. Garrett will be released shortly.