What is the swine flu?
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. 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
What is swine flu? Swine Influenza (swine flu) is a respiratory disease of pigs caused by type A influenza viruses. Outbreaks of swine flu happen regularly in pigs. People do not normally get swine flu, but human infections can and do happen. Most commonly, human cases of swine flu happen in people who are around pigs but it’s possible for swine flu viruses to spread from person to person also. Are there human infections with swine flu in the U.S.? In late March and early April 2009, cases of human infection with swine influenza A (H1N1) viruses were first reported in Southern California and near San Antonio, Texas. CDC and local and state health agencies are working together to investigate this situation. Is this swine flu virus contagious? CDC has determined that this virus is contagious and is spreading from human to human. However, at this time, it not known how easily the virus spreads between people. What are the signs and symptoms of swine flu in people? The symptoms of swine fl
Swine influenza virus (referred to as SIV) refers to influenza cases that are caused by Orthomyxoviruses endemic to pig populations. SIV strains isolated to date have been classified either as Influenzavirus C or one of the various subtypes of the genus Influenzavirus A.[1] Swine flu infects people every year and is found typically in people who have been in contact with pigs, although there have been cases of person-to-person transmission.[2] Symptoms include fever, disorientation, stiffness of the joints, vomiting, and loss of consciousness ending in death.[3] Swine influenza is known to be caused by influenza A subtypes H1N1,[4] H1N2,[4] H3N1,[5] H3N2,[4] and H2N3.[6] In swine, three influenza A virus subtypes (H1N1, H3N2, and H1N2) are circulating throughout the world.[citation needed] In the United States, the H1N1 subtype was exclusively prevalent among swine populations before 1998; however, since late August 1998, H3N2 subtypes have been isolated from pigs. As of 2004, H3N2 vir
Lawton_ The swine flu is causing concern in the United States. It’s a virus that has been known to affect pigs, but now humans are being affected by it too. “This virus apparently is a mixture of human influenza virus, swine influenza virus and the bird influenza virus,” Dr. Francois Dutoit of Comanche County Memorial Hospital said. U.S. health officials declared a public health emergency as the number of cases are rising. There have been 20 confirmed cases across five states including Texas and Kansas. In Mexico, 81 deaths are suspected to be from the outbreak and 374 people remained hospitalized. Canada has had six confirmed cases so far, all from individuals who traveled to Mexico. “We’ve ramped up our surveillance around the country to try and understand better what is the scope what is the magnitude of this outbreak,” acting CDC Director Dr. Richard Besser said. Regular flu vaccines will not work on this virus as it is not a human influenza virus. Although the swine flu is not pre
