I went to a function over the weekend and met up with some people from Western Ukraine. What I was hearing was disturbing. They are telling me of several deaths per town. These are small towns, typically with population in just the 10's of thousands (i.e. accumulated death figures would be significantly higher than being reported in the press). In one particular location, autopsies were carried out and "blood was found in the lungs of all the victims". For the last few weeks, school attendances were down severely due to influenza type illnesses, however the school administrators were told by authorities not to record absences so as not to create a panic (typical soviet style hangovers). Town centres are now mostly deserted and of the few people that are venturing out, many are wearing face masks.

In general from what I was hearing, if this direct word of mouth information is representing an accurate picture of events, they may be experiencing a more virulent mutation of the swine flu then that which has so far been spreading across the globe. This development should be followed closely.