OK, maybe I'm a cynic, but:
SARS was going to kill us all (but didn't).
Bird flu was going to kill us all (but didn't).
Anyone know why I should be bothered about Swine flu? Also, in a normal flu outbreak how many people die? Why is this different?
The number of deaths so far, whilst tragic for those involved, is not exactly huge - in fact its just a little higher than the number of deaths on US roads on an average day.
As Douglas Adams once said,
'DON'T PANIC'.