All of the buzz about the impending threat of the new H1N1 virus or swine flu, left me with questions. So I decided to read up on it. Turning to The Wall Street Journal, I researched every aspect of the virus, its origin, first victims, symptoms, etc. Now with more knowledge I still have questions, in fact, even more questions.

To start at the beginning of the outbreak, a five year old boy, Edgar Hernandez, of La Gloria, Mexico was the first known case of swine flu.

La Gloria is home to a pig farm. However, none of the workers on the farm had the flu. Strange? It gets better.

Edgar sleeps in the same bed with his two parents and younger brother. None them came down with any type of sickness, not even a cold. While more than 1,000 people in the town had symptoms such as Edgar’s. Why didn’t his family get sick?

When Edgar received tests for the flu they examined the genetic material of the virus. While the outbreak started in North America, the strand came from Europe and Asia. How can a virus from Europe and Asia spring up in a small town in Mexico without any other cases tracing back to its origin?

I am not a scientist or a genius by any means, but I have made my own hypothesis on the matter.

1. How did the swine flu get to the little, quaint town of La Gloria? Unsuspecting Edgar Hernandez was outside playing, as a normal kid does. All of a sudden a tall, intimidating, suited man approaches him. Not knowing what to do, Edgar freezes. The man says, “Hello son, its hot isn’t it? I bet you’re thirsty. An ice cold Coke-a-Cola would be nice wouldn’t it?” Eager Edgar nods incessantly. “Well, you’re in luck.” (All translated and paraphrased, of course) So the man pulls out a coke and gives it to Edgar. He gulps it down very quickly. But Edgar was so engulfed in the coke that he didn’t even see the man leave. Little did Edgar know, the coke he drank was infected with the swine flu. He never even had chance.

2. Why wasn’t the whole Hernandez family infected? After the plague swept through Europe there was a group of people that were completely unaffected by the outbreak. People were puzzled as to why they didn’t get the plague. The descendants of the group were analyzed and it was found out that they were completely immune to the plague. Edgar’s family is, coincidentally descendants of these people.  But because Edgar was directly infected with the virus he still caught it, and was able to spread it to others.

3. Who infected poor Edgar? After much painstaking research I have come to the final conclusion. The obvious culprit of the outbreak was Colonel Mustard in the library with the candle stick. Mystery solved.