Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Market responses vary over swine flu scare



The spread of swine flu has taken its toll on human health and economic performance, adding to the complexity of the global economic downturn.

The first death outside Mexico has been confirmed in the U.S., signalling that other affected countries might soon see deaths caused by the virus.

The WHO has raised the alert level to phase four, indicating that the virus is transmitted from human to human, and community-level outbreaks are possible.

Except in Mexico, panic among the public is not yet seen. But it has shaken the global stock market, which has responded the quickest on the fear of potential pandemic of the virus as warned by the WHO.

However, swine flu has incurred not only bad news for travel and tourism sectors, it also brings business for pharmaceuticals, especially those producing antiviral medicine.

For the full story by
Dongying Wang and Rob Welham, published by Xinhua News Agency in April 2009, please click here. Also, please return to the blog to post your comment.

Photo by Quiplash
Quiplash

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