Cue the Ominous Music!

Texas confirmed the first U.S. resident flu death Tuesday, a new mother and teacher who worked with disabled students. She lived near the border with Mexico and was suffering from "chronic underlying health conditions" but recently gave birth to a healthy baby girl through C-section. However, health officials have not said the H1N1 was the sole or main cause of death.

On the other hand, just across the river, Mexican officials have seemingly resumed life throughout its cities because of the decrease in deaths. The tension might have eased within the country, but international tension has risen instead between Mexico and China.

A jet from Mexico arrived in China on Tuesday on a mission that includes stops in four Chinese cities to bring home dozens of Mexicans quarantined under strict swine flu measures. The trip, which takes in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou in the south, and Hong Kong, comes after China at the weekend suspended flights to and from Mexico, the epicentre of the outbreak, leaving tourists at both ends stranded.

The real crisis is the reality that many of those quarantined in mainland did not show any symptoms of H1N1 but were isolated seemingly because of their nationality. If that was not the kicker, the Mexican quarantined in Hong Kong who has the virus is not allowed to get on the same plane to go back to Mexico! While the Chinese officials were quick to point out their actions were not discriminatory, the international audience have said otherwise. It is as if the Chinese stereotyping of others is a new concept.

Underneath that crisis, the real surprise, personally, is not that the Mexicans without H1N1 were quarantined, but Canadians without the piggie flu were quarantined as well. Who knew Canada has the highest number of cases of H1N1? Either the press didn't catch a hold of such news earlier this week, or it flew between my eyes and I still missed it.

I do understand China's strict handling of the situation. If H1N1 were to hit mainland, because of the communist nation's high population density, the virus would spread quicker than a wildfire in California under windy and dry conditions. The Chinese government does not need this piggie flu to add onto their endless checking of things to suppress (does democracy ring a bell? ...Anyone?).

While governments are still barricading their borders from possible H1N1 invasions, Mexico is on a roll in terms of relaxing their entire country. While Mexico is doing that, virologists and other scientists have warned the flu has a possibility of coming back with a vengeance later this year. They have drawn comparisons between the current H1N1 strain with the Spanish Flu of 1918 and other pandemics.

Another uncomfortable parallel between past and present is the profile of the victims. While relatively few in number, many of the deaths in Mexico were among young adults, as was true in 1918. Most seasonal flu fatalities -- which number 250,000 to 500,000 per year -- occur mainly among the very young and very old.

Even my physical geology professor believes the media has blown this near-pandemic piggie flu out of proportions. Hundreds of thousands of people die from regular ol' flu every year world wide and yet we're getting worked up over something like this? Despite my professor's rantings, the mere thought of people around my age around me dying is still a scary thought. People usually think the late teenage and early adult years are the healthiest times human beings will have, and yet the H1N1 kills more of that age group? This flu continues to truly baffle even the educated (let's not even talk about the uninformed *ahemBidencough*).

Myy geology professor and Mexico believes we should calm down a bit, and the entertainment industry seems to agree. Models, fashion designers and entertainers were partying in New York at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute Gala despite the swine flu crisis worldwide. The star-studded event paved way for high-rollers in couture dresses and elegant ball gowns. Who said the flu had to dampen the mood of entertainment industry elitists? Forget the contagious virus; it must definitely be worth it for celebrities to risk catching the flu in order to see Rihanna's debut post-domestic violence case.