The H1N1 flu virus continues to escalate world-wide. In Mexico City, churches, schools, and most public meeting places are closed. Restaraunts serve only take-out; customers may not dine in. Masks are worn by the military, the police, and the clergy. Even in rural Mexico, some people are beginning to wear masks. The good news is that swine flu, while more contagious than avion flu, is treatable with a lower mortality rate.
We are in a lucky situation here at the Bosque. Far from cities and towns, we can limit our contact with the outside world very significantly until the threat decreases. We certainly don’t want to respond with fear or paranoia, but reading about the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918 and reading the CDC’s website, we’d like to take precautions to protect ourselves and our friends. Day to day nothing will change. We will continue building more ecological projects, making more art, playing, and signing around the campfire. And, we’ll be keeping an eye on the news.
We’ve written up a full response plan based on suggestions from the CDC and WHO. The plan includes only accepting long term visitors and setting up cabanas for new visitors to stay for 4-5 days until we can be sure they do not show symptoms. Our visits to town to get supplies will be short and as infrequent as possible. For the most part, we will be up here in the forest, waiting until the threat decreases.
For friends and family of the people in the Bosque, please feel at ease! We are taking the necessary precautions to keep the Bosque flu-free, and don’t anticipate any problems. Should illness occur, we will go to whatever lengths necessary to get the appropriate treatment.