Oh Great, 20 Suspected Cases of Swine Flu in Miami

Swine flu officially hit my Facebook news feed late yesterday, as a status update from a contact in Miami came up indicating he'd just been tested for the virus. Then I saw the Herald was reporting there are 20 "suspect" cases in Miami-Dade. Add to this the report that a confirmed carrier of the virus traveled through Miami, and you might be ready to panic.

Let's keep things in perspective. Twenty suspected cases is not that many, really. If someone shows up to their doctor with flu-like symptoms, of course the doctor is going to want to take precautions during a phase 5 epidemic alert, but be aware there are dozens of other causes of flu-like symptoms.