As of May 2009, the Earth’s population is estimated to be about 6.77 billion.

During the last officially-declared flu epidemic in the UK, in 1989, 29,000 flu-related deaths were reported.
At its peak, there were 534 recorded cases in every 100,000 – well above the 400 threshold which defines an epidemic.
These numbers are for the UK only.

So, is this current outbreak really that serious?

I’m not a medical person but the numbers don’t stack up.
Putting on the conspiracy theory hat here, is this an opportunity grabbed with both hands by world governments to take our collective minds off the global economic meltdown?

We may not have any money but thank god and the national health services of the world, we’re still alive.