Like Sunfish, I've spent time working with people who do this stuff.
For the most part, this one isn't a media beat-up. Those who run the media have been told about the importance of this story by health organisations. It helps the media that the story is sensational, and it doesn't help the rest of us that there will be dopey reporting, but one of the first steps in controlling any outbreak of disease is to make the public aware of it. This has been done very effectively.
The next step is to control its spread, and if it means closing borders, governments will do this and this will mean disruption for the airline industry.
The bad news is that the Mexican government were slow to realise the significance of this virus and worse still, this virus seems to be highly infectious.
The good news is that it is apparently - for the moment - less lethal than the recent bird flu virus. It's also more treatable because we have pharmaceuticals that weren't around during the last
great H1N1 virus pandemic in 1918. And hopefully in a few months there will be a vaccine that protects us, just like vaccines were created for smallpox and poliomyelitis.
Even more good news is that governments internationally are responding quickly to contain outbreaks of the virus, using plans that have been created and exercised by medical scientists. Hopefully early action will mean that the sceptics can remain sceptical for the next time around.
And the advice that I've received from a trusted doctor? Wash you hands! More often than not respiratory viruses are passed from your hands to your nose, eyes or mouth, not directly from another infected person's breath.
Gesundheit.