The Swine Flu and Canada's First Nations

I don't know what's going to happen when the Swine Flu returns this fall. Nobody does.

But I do know that we can't afford not to be prepared.

Swine flu spreads four times faster than other viruses and 40 percent of the fatalities are young adults in good health.

Sixty percent of the deaths cover those who have underlying health problems," Chan said. "This means that 40 percent of the fatalities concern young adults -- in good health -- who die of a viral fever in five to seven days.

And pregnant women and aboriginal peoples are also particularly vulnerable.

So I find this hard to believe.

And this absolutely horrifying:

"There is no partnership [with the federal government]. There is no development of the organized system that everyone is part of," he said, noting that only two of 30 communities in his northern territory have a plan for dealing with the swine flu pandemic.

When the Spanish Flu struck Canada in 1918, some native communities were almost wiped out.

This flu bug doesn't seem to be nearly as deadly as the 1918 one. But then it didn't turn into a mass killer until the second wave hit.

As this chart from that year demonstrates.











So we can't take any chances.

And even if the H1N1 bug doesn't mutate into something more deadly, the volume of cases could swamp emergency rooms in Canada's big cities. So can you imagine what could happen in poverty-stricken aboriginal communities?

Our incompetent Con government says it knows what it's doing. But I don't believe them. So I hope somebody is working on an emergency plan, like the biggest air lift Canada has ever seen, to rush aid to those communities.

Because if we knew what could happen to our beautiful native people. And our government just let it happen. It wouldn't just add to our shame.

It would be absolutely CRIMINAL...