My brother Peter is currently in Mexico on a fellowship. After being there a few days he sent me an e-mail telling me about the effect of swine flu on the area in which he is staying.
I was really struck by what he wrote and after I read his email I asked him to write up a little piece about what he was experiencing to share with all of you - as the news we get about swine flu is rarely about the small communities it is clearly having a large impact on.
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The advent of swine flu this past April raised many questions concerning international travel and health. Most recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) raised the alert level to level 6, meaning that swine flu has officially become a pandemic. The upgrade in severity is because of the recent numbers of cases in the United States, Europe, and Canada, although the most recent numbers show spikes in other countries as well.(You can find the most recent information here). The severity of the H1N1 still remains manageable; drink plenty of fluids, rest, and go see your doctor. However, the swine flu has also had dramatic economic effects as well: most notably in the tourism industry, and no country has been affected as much as Mexico, the country where the outbreak began.
I am currently traveling in Mexico on a research fellowship and have been able to see the effects the swine flu has had on tourism first hand. Two weeks ago I had the pleasure of staying in Cuernavaca, a beautiful city close to an hour and a half south of Mexico City, and home to many language schools for college students, teachers and the like. During the summer months cities such as Cuernavaca teem with Americans, but this year it has been different: the enrollment of these schools has dropped significantly.
I had the opportunity to stay with the Cemanahuac Educational Community during my time in Cuernavaca(I also studied there two years ago) and was disappointed to learn that enrollment had dropped from 250 the year before to a paltry 34 at the same time this year. Teachers employed by the school, as well as gardeners, cleaners, and cooks depend on tourism for a majority of their yearly income. Many have been let go as there is not enough demand to keep their positions filled. Moreover, I was startled to find out that not many people even knew someone having been ill with swine flu.
If worried about the swine flu, Mexico may in fact be one of the safer countries to travel too. In the past week there has been an increase of 4638 cases in the United States, 2159 in Canada, 1431 in Chile. Forty percent of all cases have been in the United States, followed by 17% in Mexico, and 11% in Canada. It is also been encouraging to see the steps the Mexican community has taken to avoid further outbreak. Mexico City shut itself down to contain the outbreak in the beginning stages and that has seemed to lessen the spread. In Cuernavaca, at several restaurants and eaterys, mask were worn and signs were posted telling people what preventative measures to take for avoiding the flu. I am in currently in Buenavista de Cuellar, a small rural town in central Mexico, and not a single person here knows of anybody who has had swine flu.
So what's the message I want to get across for all of you reading this? Don't always believe the mainstream media, do your own research, and when traveling, always be careful: that means washing your hands often(bring some hand sanitizer as well), knowing the area you are in, and using common sense. Also, head down to Mexico and take some language classes! I hope to see you around. 
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