Follow the Yellow Brick Road....
The vials contained samples of Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis, a virus that sickens horses and can be spread to humans by mosquitoes. In 97 percent of cases, humans with the virus suffer flu-like symptoms, but it can be deadly in about 1 out of 100 cases, according to Caree Vander Linden, a spokeswoman for the Army's Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases. There is an effective vaccine for the disease and there hasn't been an outbreak in the United States since 1971.
State officials said Monday that they suspect a drug reaction or toxins killed 21 horses as they were prepared to compete in a Sunday polo match in Wellington, Florida.
State officials and local law enforcement also announced Monday that they are launching investigations into the deaths as scientists work to pinpoint what exactly killed the horses.
Officials believe that the "very rapid onset of sickness and death" points to toxins or a drug reaction and also allows them to rule out other possibilities.
Strang said the people affected were only "mildly ill," and all are recovering. He said people who had recently been traveling should call their doctor and stay home if they suffer flu-like symptoms.
The H1N1 strain of swine flu is usually associated with pigs. When the flu spreads person-to-person, instead of from animals to humans, it can continue to mutate, making it a tougher strain that is harder to treat or fight off.
Sorry, but this conspiracy theorist finds it all a little too coincidental. What if this isn't swine flu at all? What if it is, for all intents and purposes, Captain Trips? Someone needs to write to Stephen King, and not me. I'm too busy.