It is possible that it just may disappear quietly. A/H1N1/2009 is following a similar pattern to the original A/H1N1/1918 inasmuch as it entered human circulation towards the end of the Northern Hemisphere winter and was relatively mild.
It was only the successive waves than exhibited increased morbidity and mortality and of course had the benefit of a veritable diaspora with all those young men leaving Europe and heading home.
The guts of it is we still just don't know if this will become a pandemic and if so what CFR we will see. Certainly there is a lot of attention focussed on the Southern Hemisphere as we head into our Flu Season. It may, or may not, be an indicator of things to come.
So just before we all go back to our usual daily grind please be aware that the 'people that know' are still very wary.
Click here for an interesting viewpoint http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v459/n7243/full/459009a.html
CDC expects more infections, hospitalizations and deaths over the coming weeks.
CDC H1N1 Flu
There are now over 2500 cases world wide, the majority of which are still in the Americas. This is a function of a number of factors inclduing the ability to detect and identify H1N1 (the new PCR test is helping a lot) and the serial interval (how long it takes from one contagious person becoming symptomatic till the next person they infected doing the same).
In reality there is nothing you or I can do to prevent a pandemic. What we can do however is be aware of what it means - and if it does happen be as prepared as we can be. This is not a panic call. It is the same as we as professional aviators spend our professional lives doing, imagining the worst and making sure we have done our homework.
Cheers,
Brad