It's the swine flu, not the plague.

I have seen and heard about the "outbreak of the deadly swine flu", and would like to help people understand some basic facts about the flu.

a.) Your best protection is basic prevention. - Wash your hands regularly.  Be aware of those around you that may be coughing, or otherwise expressing symptoms, which include coughing, sore throat, lethargy, nausea and vomiting, runny nose, etc.  Note that the symptoms are consistent with the body's reaction to most illnesses, including the common cold and severe allergies.  Correlation does not equal causation, and vomiting does not equal the swine flu.  For those of you who constantly use hand sanitizer, you have likely managed to diminish your body's immune system by depriving it of consistent exposure to bacteria and illnesses, and thus, may have increased your chances of the illness, should you come in contact with it.  Nice work.  

b.) If you're healthy, and you live in the United States, it is not deadly.  It's not that the flu can't kill you; it's that the flu won't kill you.  As I write this, 20 out of 149 cases have been confirmed.  Today, that's roughly 13% (tomorrow, 20/149 is still 13%, but the numbers will likely be different tomorrow), but that is likely to explode far lower tomorrow as yahoos with runny noses from every state run to be treated with what they believe is assuredly their beginning-of-the-end. 

Good luck, and Godspeed.