Dutch Gamers Battle Swine Flu

It's not a matter of it, but when. Influenza pandemics have been an integral part of human civilization ever since we started keeping close quarters with domesticated chickens, pigs and other useful animals. The last big outbreak was the 1918 Spanish Flu (pictured), which killed between 50 million and 100 million people worldwide, dwarfing the death toll from World War I.

So to prepare for the inevitable, medical researchers at the Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam, Holland, have designed a video game called "The Great Flu," as reported by BBC News. Despite the explicitly stated disclaimer that the video game is in no way meant to replace real-world preparedness, it was created to help people better understand how to respond.

According to the BBC article, "The game is played online and gives players the unenviable task of containing, as much as they can, the spread of an unknown flu virus. The more time passes, the more people become infected, more people die and more nations are hit."

Players can employ early warning systems, distribute face masks and vaccines, close schools and airports, quarantine infected individuals and do other things to help contain the virus. Oh, and players have a limited amount of funds and must make difficult choices along the way, such as choosing between closing airports or closing schools.

Yikes ... This doesn't sound like fun at all. Check out this video trailer for the game, posted at YouTube:

Image courtesy of US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, via Wikimedia Commons