Celebrated Swedish songwriter Jens Lekman got more than he bargained for on a recent tour of South America – a dose of swine flu.
The H1N1 virus has become one of the most talked about developments of 2009. Originating in pigs and other livestock, the virus made the jump to humans recently, producing severe flu-like symptoms.
Dubbed swine flu by the media, the virus has spread to become a global pandemic. Although deaths are rare it has caused severe disruption and has caught the public’s imagination.
At the recent Glastonbury festival three campers were sent home after displaying symptoms that resembled swine flu. Now it seems another musical talent has fallen victim to the virus with Jens Lekman revealing to fans that he has caught H1N1.
The songwriter recently toured South America, and first began feeling ill on flight home. Diagnosed with swine flu, Jens Lekman has now been placed in quarantine for ten days – which at least allows him to work on a follow up to 2007’s stunning album ‘Night Falls Over Kortedala’.
Jens Lekman broke the news to fans in a message on his official website:
“I picked home one last souvenir from South America, it’s called the H1N1 virus. Wrongfully known as the Swineflue.”
“I was crossing the Atlantic when things started getting really bad, the fever was hallucinogenic and shaking me like a leaf and I grabbed the sleeve of the Air France steward. ‘I’m not feeling well, I should see a doctor’ I said and the reply came as a brilliant mix of death anxiety and french rudeness: ‘Uh, yes… Terminal D… go there maybe… when we land’. After that the stewards and stewardesses took long detours. A ring of empty seats formed around me.”
“Peoples eyes were kind but determined, they read ‘Poor you, I really wish you all the best but if you come near me or my kid I will have to stab you with this plastic fork’. I got up and went to the bathroom where I fainted.”
“Now I’m in quarantine for ten days. I can see the summer through my window and it’s just perfect. Summer is always best through a window.”
Jens Lekman is currently recovering at home.
