Swine Flu Statistics

Swine Flu Statistics:

103 dead in Mexico, 1,614 infected
40 infected in the United States
6 infected in Canada
10 infected in New Zealand
18 suspected infected in Spain
1 Infected in Israel

Areas Affected:

Mexico: Mexico State and San Luis Potosi State
USA: California, Texas, Kansas, Ohio, New York (City)
Canada: Nova Scotia
New Zealand: Quarantined

Updated Date : April-27-09 @ 1:30 PM ET

Swine Flu: Symptoms and treatment. Is there a vaccine?

Swine influenza is a respiratory disease of pigs. It was isolated in 1930. It is caused by Influenza type A which brings about the disease in pigs. This happens on a pretty regular basis and doesn’t cause many deaths in pigs. The pigs certainly get ill and it happens with a large number of pigs usually in the fall and winter months of the year. That is when most of the human population gets their versions of influenza injections as well, better known as “the flu shot”.

Every year the flu vaccines that are received by humans are just a bit different. The virus used to make our flu injection is grown in a lab dish to make a vaccine that most likely matches the strain of the influenza that is expected that season. The strains of flu morph every season and although the symptoms of the flu are the same or mostly similar to the last year’s strain, the vaccinations can be targeted to the specific strain or species of the virus that will affect people that year. If a person get the vaccination and still gets ill with the flu it is said that it is possible the person got a strain of the flu that was more severe or not covered in the vaccination the person received. It is impossible to cover every variation of a virus that is continually changing.

Viruses can change constantly and that is the same of the swine flu. Pigs can become infected with other viruses that have reassorted or “swapped genes” and a new strain of the virus is born. Pigs can get infected with avian (bird) flu, human and other strains of swine flu from other pigs too and then the reassorting/ gene swapping begins again creating a new subtype of that virus.

There is a vaccine to protect pigs from the virus but currently no vaccine to protect humans from catching swine flu. A seasonal influenza vaccination grown and manufactured for humans will only partially protect a person. Since there are 4 substrains of swine influenza type A, the seasonal flu shot will give a person only partial protection from only one of the variations of the swine flu but not against the main species of the swine flu that we are seeing in the world news in the past week or so.

The symptoms of swine flu closely mimic the symptoms of human influenza. Coughing, fever, runny nose, fatigue, headache and a loss of appetite are consistent with both human and swine influenzas. Additional symptoms which may require being seen by a physician include chills, nausea, congestion, sore throat, lethargy, a fever over 101 degrees, vomiting and diarrhea which can bring about dehydration and put the sick person at additional risk. This will usually land the person a night or two in the hospital with IV fluids and meds. Swine flu doesn’t usually infect humans but this does occur when a person has close proximity with pigs that are infected and then is around other people. The person can catch the swine flu virus from the pigs that are infected and it is then passed on from an infected person to others through coughing, sneezing and casual contact. Just as in human influenza, if a person touches something which has the flu virus on it and then touches their eyes, nose or mouth they can then contract that virus.

With most viruses there is a window period called “shedding”. That would be the ideal time where sputum (a respiratory sample coughed up) is obtained and sent to the CDC for examination. During this shedding period, there has not been sufficient time for the body to send out any protection and the virus can be more readily identified. Shedding a virus is much like shedding old dead skin cells and can easily spread a virus during that time frame. For adults shedding a virus occurs most likely 4-5 days after the infection is received. The antigen can be identified most easily during that window period of shedding.

When an antigen, the invader disease state that infects the person, enters the body, there is an antibody response to that antigen or invader. That is when our little soldier cells (white cells) respond to the invading infection and build more and more little soldier cells to fight the infection. Children may shed longer due to decreased antibody loads due to age or vaccinations received thus far in their little lives. This antigen/ antibody response usually takes care of the invader and we get better but those persons who are compromised health wise have a much harder time of it. Persons with compromised pulmonary functions, diseases that do not allow for full recovery such as HIV and cystic fibrosis are also at increased risk and should take all precautions to avoid catching swine flu.

So how do we as a community protect ourselves against the swine flu?

Education. Education. Education.

Every year Health Departments around the country preach the gospel of Good Community Health through hand washing, cough control and sneeze protection for those around us. These are the 3 main things a person can do to protect themselves from almost any invader disease state. Just like condoms add barrier protection for those who use them, we, as a community, are asked to make a barrier of our own sniffles and sneezes to avoid passing our germs to the next person. Make it a practice to wash hands often, especially with children who don’t think to wash their hands and often share toys, food and germs. As adults it is necessary for us to make good examples of ourselves and teach our children good hand washing practices to avoid spreading diseases. This applies to avoiding passing a cold to avoiding passing on swine flu. Carry hand sanitizing gels or wipes if you feel you will be where there may not be adequate facilities for hand washing. Kleenexes now come in varieties where they capture germs on the tissues and the germs are disposed with the tissues. Zinc is always a good option for staying healthy. Sleep and a proper diet can also help, but barrier methods and cleanliness work the best for not passing on germs and infections.

If you or a loved one comes down with an illness that you suspect could be the swine flu it may be best to see a physician if the symptoms begin to mimic a worse illness than just a regular flu. If there is fever, persistent coughing that sounds like a barking, fever, vomiting or diarrhea, go to a healthcare professional and get checked out. An ounce of prevention is worth a lot in this situation, but when that fails, is there a pound of cure to be had?

Testing has shown that the human swine influenza H1N1 (the main strain of swine influenza) can be treated with the antivirals oseltamavir (Tamiflu) and zanamivir (Relenza). If you suspect you may have had contact with someone who has any symptoms of the swine flu it may be necessary to be on antiviral therapy to avoid spreading the disease and to recover. If there are any further questions or concerns about the state of your health and swine flu, please contact your healthcare professional for early treatment.

What is swine flu?

Swine flu Photo

What's swine flu?

It is a general term for influenza viruses adapted to pigs, causing a respiratory disease in the animals. There are many different strains. The disease is caused by a type A influenza virus, and the new strain belongs to the most common subtype, known as H1N1. Swine flu can infect humans. In such cases, it is most often transmitted from a pig to someone handling the animal. Swine flu can pass from human to human through coughing, sneezing or touching infected people or surfaces and then touching your mouth or nose. It is not contracted by eating thoroughly cooked pork.

Is it contagious?

Swine flu is contagious, but health officials cannot yet say how easily this strain spreads from person to person. People are usually contagious for as long as they are symptomatic, typically four to five days for adults and longer for children.

What is the incubation period?

Only a day or two.

How dangerous?

In Mexico, more than 100 deaths are suspected from swine flu, but all known cases in the US and elsewhere have been mild. Experts do not know how deadly the flu is, because they do not know how many people have been infected overall.

The new strain seems to be more lethal to those aged 25 to 45 — an ominous sign, as this was a hallmark of the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic that killed tens of millions worldwide.

How can you stop the spread?

Standard methods of prevention include covering your mouth when you cough and sneeze. Use tissues and throw them in a bin immediately. Wash your hands often with soap and water. Use alcohol-based hand sanitisers. Avoid sick people. If you become sick, stay home from work or school.

What is the treatment?

Two antiviral drugs — Tamiflu and Relenza — are thought to work. According to Professor Robert Booy, of the Sydney-based National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance, Australia has "a large local stockpile as well as the capacity to manufacture" Relenza (an Australian discovery) here.

Is there a vaccine?

No. Development of such a vaccine would take at least four months.

FACTBOX: Swine Flu

BANGALORE — U.S. health officials are investigating a strange new type of swine influenza that has infected at least seven people and which is expected to be found in more.

Here are some facts about the virus and flu viruses in general:

* The virus is an influenza A virus, carrying the designation H1N1.

* It is genetically different from the fully human H1N1 seasonal influenza virus that has been circulating globally for the past few years. The new flu virus contains DNA typical to avian, swine and human viruses, including elements from European and Asian swine viruses.

* Flu viruses mutate constantly, which is why the flu vaccine is changed every year, and they can also swap DNA in a process called re-assortment. Most animals can get flu but viruses rarely pass from one species to another.

* From December 2005 through February 2009, 12 cases of human infection with swine influenza were confirmed, all but one among people who had contact with pigs. There was no evidence of human-to-human transmission.

* Symptoms of swine flu in people are similar to those of seasonal influenza — sudden onset of fever, coughing, muscle aches and extreme tiredness. Swine flu appears to cause more diarrhea and vomiting than normal flu.

* People rarely catch avian flus. Notable exceptions include the H1N1 strain that caused the 1918 pandemic and H5N1 bird flu, which has killed 257 out of 421 infected in 15 countries since 2003, according to the World Health Organization.

* Seasonal flu kills between 250,000 and 500,000 people globally in an average year.

* When a new strain of flu starts infecting people, and when it acquires the ability to pass from person to person, it can spark a pandemic. The last pandemic was in 1968 and killed about a million people.

* In 1976 a new strain of swine flu started infecting people and worried U.S. health officials started widespread vaccination. More than 40 million people were vaccinated. But several cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome, a severe and sometime fatal condition that can be linked to come vaccines, caused the U.S. government to stop the program. The incident led to widespread distrust of vaccines in general.

China Goes on Swine Flu Alert

China hasn’t yet had any reported cases of swine flu, but it is already taking measures to prevent the latest health scare from spreading.

On Saturday, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine issued an emergency notice requiring passengers arriving from flu-hit areas to report any flu-like symptoms, the China Daily reports.

The traveler measures are not yet as severe as those undertaken in its special administrative region of Hong Kong, where authorities said that passengers coming from areas with reported outbreaks of swine flu, such as New York City, who exhibit flu symptoms would be taken to hospitals for observation. China’s government has not issued a warning against travel to Mexico, as Hong Kong has.

On Monday, China joined several other countries in banning imports of live pigs and pork products from Mexico and parts of the U.S., even though the WHO says that swine flu cannot be contracted by eating cooked pork. The move affects pork from large agricultural states such as Kansas, California and Texas.

China was the source of the SARS epidemic in 2003, and occasional cases of H5N1 bird flu in Hong Kong have been traced to Chinese fowl. After coming under fire for its initial slow response to the SARS crisis, China has tried to improve its pandemic preparedness, though questions remain about how it would handle another major infectious disease outbreak.

–Sky Canaves

Swine Flu Symptoms: Was Obama Exposed to Swine Influenza?

Here are the symptoms of ’swine flu’ just in case you are getting nervous. The Mexican swine flu has all the elements of a global pandemic although the odds of such an historic catastrophe remain small. Cases of swine influenza have already been reported in dozens of countries with thousands sick and over 200 dead in Mexico in just the first week.
Swine Flu Symptoms
Symptoms of Mexican swine flu might include some of the following factors:
–cough
–congestion
–fever
–sore throat
–lack of appetite
–headaches
–nausea
–body aches and pains, particularly in the joints.
–Weakness, fatigue, low levels of energy.

See a doctor if you suspect that you have swine influenza as exhibited by any pig flu symptoms.

U.S. President Barack Obama was exposed to swine flu on his trip to Mexico last week. Obama was greeted by archeologist Felipe Solis at a museum in Mexico City where they warmly embraced. Felipe Solis was dead the next day from what was described then as swine flu symptoms, although local health officials changed the diagnosis to non-descriptive “pneumonia” for apparent diplomatic reasons.

Reports are that Obama knew about the outbreak three days before his visit but decided to go anyway. His imprudence may have been pushed by criticism for having never visited Mexico during his short lifetime before the presidency.

Obama may never feel the symptoms of the bug but because of his exposure he may have been a contagious carrier of the deadly disease back into the United States. There is a chance he infected others. Do not expect the White House to confirm such an interesting scenario even if true.

And luckily for the nation, do not expect the president to get sick. The vast majority of people exposed to any flu strain including the swine flu do not exhibit symptoms of illness. However do not expect Barack Obama to visit Mexico again soon!

The fact that our president can be so easily exposed (and expose others) means we should all be aware and take reasonable precautions.

Swine flu symptoms are similar to the symptoms of other flu strains but the effects are often more pronounced. They will ravage elderly patients and the young harder than others, and those with weakened immune systems will be most vulnerable.

The disease is airborne so it is normally transmitted by coughing or sneezing, or through ventilation systems inside buildings. A mask is not a bad idea, particularly when visiting the sick or you are confined in close proximity with other people like in an airplane. See much more information here.

There is no swine flu vaccine yet. You are not protected if you got a flu shot this year. Flu shots only protect against a few strains of the flu which are expected to be most dangerous in a given year. The pig flu was not predicted by disease experts so they have not even developed serum for it.

The odds of a global pandemic from swine flu are small. Clearly there is panic particularly in Mexico today. Many cases have already been reported in the United States in the last week, although cases of influenza are always reported. Still, if you have swine flu symptoms go see a doctor right away.

And avoid the White House for the time being. A video explaining the symptoms of swine flu is below.

Swine flu symptoms similar to those of human flu

Swine flu has similar symptoms to the more common, human seasonal form of influenza.

It is one of a number of viruses that cause illness among people and animals, causing respiratory problems, fever and fatigue.

Avian flu - which has previously been the subject of pandemic fears after humans began contracting it - is another deadly strain.

According to the Health Protection Agency, outbreaks of swine flu - a disease caused by type A influenza - regularly affect pigs.

People who are around pigs are most likely to suffer from the H1N1 virus but it is also possible for the virus to spread from person to person.

Evoking memories of the fears associated with bird flu, the latest perceived threat of a pandemic was brought to public attention after cases of human swine flu were reported in Mexico and parts of California and Texas in the US.

There have been no cases identified in the UK for at least 10 years.

Scientists found this virus is contagious and spreading from human to human although they do not know how easily the virus spreads between people, the HPA said.

The symptoms of swine influenza in people are similar to the symptoms of regular human seasonal flu and include fever, fatigue, lack of appetite, coughing and sore throat. Some people have also reported vomiting and diarrhoea.

Testing has shown that the human swine influenza H1N1 can be treated with the antivirals oseltamavir (Tamiflu) and zanamivir (Relenza).

Seasonal flu is caused by viruses that are adapted to spread in humans, who have some natural immunity to common strains and can boost it by immunisation with a vaccine.

Avian flu is caused by influenza viruses adapted for infection in birds while swine flu is caused by influenza viruses adapted for infection in pigs.

Potentially major problems can arise when human and animal flu viruses mix and lead to the development of new viruses which are resistant to immunity and can spread through the population, sparking a pandemic.

The HPA said it was too early to say whether the cases in Mexico and the US would lead to a larger outbreak or could represent the appearance of a potential pandemic strain of influenza virus.

There is currently insufficient evidence to understand the extent to which the cases are firmly linked.

Experts from around the world are working in close collaboration with the World Health Organisation to help determine what risk this situation poses to global public health.

Swine Flu Statistics

Statistics:

86 dead in Mexico, 1,400 infected
20 infected in the United States
4 infected in Canada
1 infected in New Zealand
1 Infected in Israel

Areas Affected:

Mexico: North Mexico
USA: California, Texas, Kansas, Ohio, New York (City)
New Zealand: Quarantined

Update Date : April-26-09 @ 3PM ET

Swine Flu: Is This the Big One?

As reports of a unique form of swine flu erupt around the world, the inevitable question arises: Is this the big one?

Is this the next big global flu epidemic that public health experts have long anticipated and worried about? Is this the novel virus that will kill millions around the world, as pandemics did in 1918, 1957 and 1968?

The short answer is it's too soon to tell.

"What makes this so difficult is we may be somewhere between an important but yet still uneventful public health occurrence here — with something that could literally die out over the next couple of weeks and never show up again — or this could be the opening act of a full-fledged influenza pandemic," said Michael Osterholm, a prominent expert on global flu outbreaks with the University of Minnesota.

"We have no clue right now where we are between those two extremes. That's the problem," he said.

Health officials want to take every step to prevent an outbreak from spiraling into mass casualties. Predicting influenza is a dicey endeavor, with the U.S. government famously guessing wrong in 1976 about a swine flu pandemic that never materialized.But health officials are being asked to make such predictions, as panic began to set in over the weekend.

"The first lesson is anyone who tries to predict influenza often goes down in flames," said Dr. Richard Wenzel, the immediate past president of the International Society for Infectious Diseases.

The epicenter was Mexico, where the virus is blamed for 86 deaths and an estimated 1,400 cases in the country since April 13. Schools were closed, church services canceled and Mexican President Felipe Calderon assumed new powers to isolate people infected with the swine flu virus.

International concern magnified as health officials across the world on Sunday said they were investigating suspected cases in people who traveled to Mexico and come back with flu-like illnesses. Among the nations reporting confirmed cases or investigations were Canada, France, Israel and New Zealand.

Meanwhile, in the United States, there were no deaths and all patients had either recovered or were recovering. But the confirmed cases around the nation rose from eight on Saturday morning to 20 by Sunday afternoon, including eight high school kids in New York City — a national media center. The New York Post's front page headline on Sunday was "Pig Flu Panic."

The concern level rose even more when federal officials on Sunday declared a public health emergency — a procedural step, they said, to mobilize antiviral medicine and other resources and be ready if the U.S. situation gets worse.

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials say that so far swine flu cases in this country have been mild. But they also say more cases are likely to be reported, at least partly because doctors and health officials across the country are looking intensively for suspicious cases.

And, troublingly, more severe cases are also likely, said Dr. Richard Besser, the CDC's acting director, in a Sunday news conference.

"As we continue to look for cases, we are going to see a broader spectrum of disease," he predicted. "We're going to see more severe disease in this country."

Besser also repeated what health officials have said since the beginning — they don't understand why the illnesses in Mexico have been more numerous and severe than in the United States. In fact, it's not even certain that new infections are occurring. The numbers could be rising simply because everyone's on the lookout.

He also said comparison to past pandemics are difficult.

"Every outbreak is unique," Besser said.

The new virus is called a swine flu, though it contains genetic segments from humans and birds viruses as well as from pigs from North America, Europe and Asia. Health officials had seen combinations of bird, pig and human virus before — but never such an intercontinental mix, including more than one pig virus.

More disturbing, this virus seems to spread among people more easily than past swine flus that have sometimes jumped from pigs to people.

There's a historical cause for people to worry.

Flu pandemics have been occurring with some regularity since at least the 1500s, but the frame of reference for health officials is the catastrophe of 1918-19. That one killed an estimated 20 to 50 million people worldwide.

Disease testing and tracking were far less sophisticated then, but the virus appeared in humans and pigs at about the same time and it was known as both Spanish flu and swine flu. Experts since then have said the deadly germ actually originated in birds.

But pigs may have made it worse. That pandemic began with a wave of mild illness that hit in the spring of 1918, followed by a far deadlier wave in the fall which was most lethal to young, healthy adults. Scientists have speculated that something happened to the virus after the first wave — one theory held that it infected pigs or other animals and mutated there — before revisiting humans in a deadlier form.

Pigs are considered particularly susceptible to both bird and human viruses and a likely place where the kind of genetic reassortment can take place that might lead to a new form of deadly, easily spread flu, scientists believe.

Such concern triggered public health alarm in 1976, when soldiers at Fort Dix, N.J., became sick with an unusual form of swine flu.

Federal officials vaccinated 40 million Americans. The pandemic never materialized, but thousands who got the shots filed injury claims, saying they suffered a paralyzing condition and other side effects from the vaccinations.

To this day, health officials don't know why the 1976 virus petered out.

Flu shots have been offered in the United States since the 1940s, but new types of flu viruses have remained a threat. Global outbreaks occurred again in 1957 and 1968, though the main victims were the elderly and chronically ill.

In the last several years, experts have been focused on a form of bird flu that was first reported in Asia. It's a highly deadly strain that has killed more than 250 people worldwide since 2003. Health officials around the world have taken steps to prepare for the possibility of that becoming a global outbreak, but to date that virus has not gained the ability to spread easily from person to person.
Orginal : http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,518002,00.html

Emergancy Update! - Swine Flu In The UK

last one deffed out at the end! Its here, we have been warning you things like this please get ready for this it's going to be a long ride!

Swine Flu Pictures

People wear masks as they stand with their bags inside a bus station in Mexico City April 24, 2009. REUTERS/Jorge Dan Lopez


A security guard wears a mask in Mexico City April 24, 2009. REUTERS/Stringer
A man wears a mask as he pushes a wheelbarrow filled with cardboard in Mexico City April 26, 2009. REUTERS/Eliana Aponte

Aides: Obama Clear of Swine Flu Symptoms

U.S. President Barack Obama is clear of any swine flu symptoms after making a trip to Mexico this month, officials say.

Obama visited Mexico, scene of dozens of deaths attributed to a new variant of the swine flu virus, on April 16, shaking hands at one point with a Mexican archaeologist who died within 24 hours of the meeting from the swine flu outbreak, the British tabloid The Daily Mail reported.

But White House spokesman Josh Earnest indicated Sunday that Obama's health is not in danger.

"His doctors have advised him that his trip to Mexico has not put his health in any danger," Earnest told The New York Daily News.

The newspaper said administration aides have refused to say what procedures Obama's doctors have taken, such as whether he was tested for the illness or underwent any inoculations, but one unnamed aide told the Daily News, "I can tell you that the president doesn't have any symptoms, and his doctors advised that there was no need for him to be tested."

A service of YellowBrix, Inc.

What is swine flu? US declares public health emergency

U.S. officials declared a public health emergency today over swine flu, now that 20 cases of the illness have been confirmed in the country, with 80 dead and 1,300 infected in Mexico.

Twenty cases -- in California, Kansas, New York, and Texas, none of them fatal -- may not sound like a lot, but Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) acting director Richard Besser told reporters in Washington, DC, that is probably just the beginning. “We are seeing more cases of swine flu,” Besser said. “We expect to see more cases of swine flu. As we continue to look for cases, I expect we’re going to find them.”

So what is swine flu? Swine flu "is a respiratory disease of pigs caused by type A influenza viruses that causes regular outbreaks in pigs," according to the CDC. Humans are not usually affected, although such infections can happen. "Swine flu viruses have been reported to spread from person-to-person, but in the past, this transmission was limited and not sustained beyond three people."

The virus responsible for the current outbreak, however -- strain H1N1 -- is contagious between humans, says the CDC, although it's unclear just how easily that happens. "Flu viruses are spread mainly from person to person through coughing or sneezing of people with influenza," the agency notes in a Q&A. "Sometimes people may become infected by touching something with flu viruses on it and then touching their mouth or nose."

Symptoms of the swine flu are the same as those of other types of flu: fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue, all of which may be more severe in those who are already sick or have chronic medical conditions. To prevent it, the CDC urges hand-washing, plenty of sleep, and drinking plenty of fluids. (You can't get it from pork, if you're wondering, although you may recall that pigs have also now been found to carry "superbugs.")

There is no effective vaccine against swine flu at the moment, but the CDC recommends using Tamiflu (olsetamivir) or Relenza (zanamivir) to treat or prevent it. Tamiflu maker Roche said today it was ready to deliver 3 million doses of Tamiflu, which is only available by prescription in the U.S., but typical flu viruses seem to be more and more resistant to the anti-viral medication, as we've reported.

In 1976, with the lessons of the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic never far from their minds, US health officials responded to the death of a private at Fort Dix from the swine flu by launching a campaign to vaccinate 220 milion Americans against swine flu. The 1976 pandemic never came, leading many, in hindsight, to question the decision to vaccinate, although the 1918 Spanish flu strain was similar and killed a half million people in the U.S. and more than 20 million around the world.

1976 photo by the CDC of a public health clinician vaccinating a woman against swine flu
Orginal Content : http://www.sciam.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=what-is-swine-flu-us-declares-publi-2009-04-26

Swine Flu

Forget avian influenza, it is swine flu that could ravage the world as Mexicans are warned not to shake hands in church and have been told to keep at least six feet of separation between each other, and to wear protective masks. Large public gatherings, such as sporting events and concerts, have been banned and schools closed.

As I’ve discussed previously on Sciencebase, there are countless latent diseases in hosts as rodents, birds, and cattle lying ready and willing to make the species leap to humans and decimate our populations. Whereas for the last ten years or so bird flu has been the focus of much research it was always more likely that a potentially lethal strain of virus would emerge from another species and not necessarily in Asia.

Now, swine flu is on the rise in Mexico and already taking the first inroads into the USA just across the border. It’s already killed more than 80 people and made hundreds ill. While some observers are suggesting serious caution others are advising that there is no reason for real concern yet. We are not quite at the danger levels of the worldwide SARS epidemic.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the Mexican/US swine flu outbreak as a “public health emergency of international concern”.

What is swine flu?

Swine flu is a type A influenza virus present in pigs. Human infection is usually uncommon except among people who work and live closely with pigs.

What is unusual about the present strain?

The new strain is a hybrid of swine, human and avian flu viruses and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says it can spread from human to human but the level of virulence is not yet clear.

What are the symptoms?

Symptoms are similar to regular human flu: fever and chills, a cough, sore throat, aching limbs, headaches, and general malaise. However, there are reports of swine flu also causing diarrhoea and vomiting. Pneumonia and respiratory failure can occur leading to death as also happens in regular human flu, which kills thousands of people every year.

Are there warning signs in children?

Children having trouble breathing, being averse to drinking, lethargy not waking up or not interacting, being so irritable that the child does not want to beheld, flu-like symptoms improve but then return with fever and worse cough, fever with a rash.

Are there any drugs to treat swine flu?

Oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and zanamivir (Relenza) are the possible pharmaceutical frontline defence and are proving effective in treating patients diagnosed early enough. There is no vaccine.

Has the disease spread to the USA?

Cases in California, Texas, and Kansas, have already been confirmed and tests are being carried out on students at a school in New York.

How can we prevent the spread of swine flu?

People at risk should cover their mouth when they cough. They should regularly wash their hands with an alcohol-based cleaner and and avoid close contact with the sick. Patients with the disease should stay at home. There is no need to avoid eating pork.

Will there be a global flu epidemic?

“We do not know whether this swine flu virus or some other influenza virus will lead to the next pandemic,” says, Richard Besser, acting director of the CDC, “However, scientists around the world continue to monitor the virus and take its threat seriously.”
Orginal Link : swine flu

Pig Flu Facts & Swine influenza

What is the swine influenza?

The swine influenza is a virus specific to pigs or porcine species; it doesn't usually infect humans, although it has happened in history.

What is different this time about the Pig Flu?

The CDC believes this time (April 24, 2009), that the strain is a mix between bird, pig, and human virus.

Can the current virus spread to humans?

Yes, it has already infected people in Mexico, California, and Texas.

Can the virus spread from human to human?

Yes. In previous occasions the virus has only been contacted by those who work with pigs, this time, the virus is believed to have spread from human-to-human.

What are the symptoms?

Typical influenza symptoms: Fever, cough, fatigue, lack of appetite.
What to do if I believe I or Somebody close to me has Pig Flu?

Go to the Doctor, a Walk in Clinic, and Ask to be tested for Influenza.
Will the typical Flu Vaccine protect me from this virus?

It is not clear yet if the human vaccine can protect from the swine influenza. There is currently no vaccine for this virus.