PANDEMIC

China Takes On Swine Flu

Containing disease, one PR disaster at a time.

China is aggressively moving to contain an outbreak of swine flu—but it seems to be burning all bridges in the process. The country has adopted new measures for avoiding pandemic, putting thousands of healthy travelers into quarantine. The measures have quickly turned into a witchhunt for a cough or a runny nose. One Virginian man was on an airplane when Chinese health officials came on to test for swine flu. After they discovered he had a 98.9 temperature, barely above average, the man was deemed a public threat, separated from his family, and rushed via ambulence to a quarantine facility where he was checked for every illness by doctors in full biohazard suits. He was released three days later. China may be succeeding in containing the disease—with only 14 cases reported in the country—but, as the Washington Post writes, “From a public relations standpoint... China’s medical checks and quarantines have been a disaster.”