PLATTE CITY, Mo. — As one of five Missouri counties where the H1N1 virus has popped up, some residents in Platte County see the frenzy surrounding the issue as mostly hype.

Rumors of a more severe outbreak this fall of the swine flu, as the H1N1 virus was first known, doesn’t elicit much response in Platte City, a town of 4,800.

“I haven’t talked to anybody who is very concerned about it,” said Ronnie Pride, who operates a barber shop near the town square.

Residents might not be in panic mode, but Mr. Pride said when news is released that “someone in north Platte County” has been infected, people would like to know where.

“How do you avoid it if you don’t know where it is?” he said. “But for the most part, everybody thinks it’s blown way out of proportion.”

The fear associated with the outbreak, which started in Mexico and has affected at least 46 states and killed three people, has kept one client of a Platte City consignment shop from returning to the area to pick up her money.

Christa Evans, owner of Oh-Baby, an infant clothing boutique across the street from the city baseball park, believes the reaction has been overblown. But not everybody shares her belief.

“I just had a young lady call, and she hasn’t picked up her paycheck because there was a case of swine flu in Platte County,” she said. “That’s the first one I’ve had.”

Another local business owner, Rod Stewart, has coffee with a group of locals every morning, and they all share the same opinion that the H1N1 virus is no more potent than the regular flu.

“We have more people die from normal influenza outbreak every year than from this,” he said.

Jimmy Myers can be reached

at jimmym@npgco.com.