Can swine influenza infect humans?
Yes. Human infections with swine influenza have been detected occasionally since the late 1950s usually in persons with direct exposure to pigs (e.g. people working in pig farms, etc.). In Europe, since 1958 a total of 17 cases have been reported. In the US, an outbreak of swine influenza virus infections in humans was detected in recruits in a military camp in Fort Dix, New Jersey in 1976. A link to pigs was presumed but never discovered. Instead there was extensive human to human transmission, with over 200 infections resulting in 12 hospitalisations and one death.
