The swine flu emergence has been labeled a pandemic, even though some contend the issue has been overplayed and things are not as dangerous as some medical experts believe. Skeptics will probably deride the fact that thousands of athletes who will compete next month in the World University Games in Serbia will be required to provide a certificate saying they do not have H1N1 flu.

Without certificates, the athletes face quarantine. Serbia has encountered flu cases and says athletes and guests at the games will be checked for the disease on a daily basis as part of the program to prevent its spread.

When the World Health Organization declared H1N1 flu to be a pandemic earlier this month, officials said the virus is now unstoppable. So far, more than 55,000 cases have been reported worldwide and some 240 people have died. Most cases have been mild, and people usually do not need medical treatment to improve. Yet people infected with the flu can be contagious before they get the symptoms, which include fever and a cough.

About 9,000 athletes and coaches from 142 countries are scheduled to participate in the games July 1-12 in Serbia, not to mention spectators following these athletes.

Are Serbian officials overreacting? That will be the charge if there are no serious flu problems. Yet safety rather than sorrow is the philosophy. If things go the other way, we could see repeats from the horrible pandemic of Spanish flu in 1918, with deep roots in Kansas.

There is solid evidence that the scourge of Spanish flu may have originated in Kansas. Soldiers at Fort Riley fell ill, infected people and animals were shipped overseas, and the results were devastating. Worldwide, more than 37 million died, at least 600,000 of them in America. That is more than the 407,000 deaths the United States suffered in World War II.

Serbia with its certification plan is trying to prevent the kind of flu spread that Fort Riley in Kansas had a major role in creating during 1918.

The best thing that can happen is for nothing to happen because of the justifiable precautions being taken for the World University Games.