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| Bird
Flu Myths |
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Myths - we all love to believe them. It's in our nature to want to steer away from the realistic answers and focus on the fiction. After all, what sounds more exciting than a huge pandemic among both animals and humans? It's something we constantly want to know more about, even if people do exaggerate and move away from the truth. We are obsessed with finding out more information about the future killing machine.
Although there are huge possibilities that a pandemic could strike, it is no more likely than dinosaurs roaming the earth. We all have neighbors who stock up on food and water, hoping that their home made masks will do the trick when birds start to knock down their door. Then there are the people who take out their guns and wait for any type of animal with a beak and wings to enter their lawn. They refuse to take any chances and will do anything to save their families from a deadly virus.
So is it really necessary to become mirror images of the paranoid and psychotic? Hardly. Newspapers tend to focus on the tragedy and deaths of those who have suffered from the virus. However, people
forget to mention the other millions who have been exposed but have never quite suffered. People also get suspicious when the government fails to say much about the issue. They become paranoid and feel like information is being kept from them. However, the government needs to know the appropriate time to address the situation. If they warn the public about an
issue too early, people start to panic and get out of control. It is essential to wait a fair amount of time before bringing the rest of the world into it.
So why do people feel the need to become so obsessive over this virus? People are naturally anxious when the news starts mentioning
quarantining people at home and stocking up for a deadly plague. It causes people to panic, and therefore they tend to overreact. This can be compared to other similar cases like
SARS. People felt that it was going to be the biggest pandemic of them all, yet it slowly faded away. The
Millennium was also a similar incident. When people heard the world may end when the year 2000 strikes, they were terrified. Prepared with their flashlights, cans of soup, and extra masks, they waited for something to happen. However, nothing ever did occur! When hype is created, it is almost impossible for people to not get sucked in. Their environments and the way they see others react are key. If their neighbors and friends start behaving a certain way, it is more likely that they will react in a similar fashion.
People will always be attracted to myths or exaggerated truth. Recently many have taken their rumors to the internet, where many sites have been adding bird flu ads, books on herbal remedies, and tools on how to get rid of the virus. It is turning into something far more serious when people are making money off of this issue. If it continues, the public will no longer take this seriously. If something does indeed happen, no one will want to look into it. It is constantly around us, and perhaps that is sensitizing us all.
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