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SHARETIPSINFO >>Research Reports >>What is swine flu and present swine flu threats

Here is a general overview of Swine Flu & the History behind it.

What is Swine Flu?

Swine flu (SIV Swine Influenza Virus) is a type of influenza H1N1 virus that normally is restricted to pigs. During 2009 this flu virus appears to have moved from pigs to humans and now from human to human creating an epidemic (locally within a region) and possible pandemic (across a much larger area possibly worldwide).
Influenza viruses are small RNA viruses that infect many mammals, including humans, birds, and swine. Until 2009, swine influenza predominately affected swine and was not transmitted often or easily to people. Even in the isolated instances in which swine influenza infected people, it had very limited ability to spread from person to person. Most cases of swine influenza in people were directly linked to contact with swine through farming or at fairs. Although it is usually a mild disease, there have been deaths reported from human infection with swine influenza

What is History of Swine flu?

Swine flu in humans is nothing new. However, generally its transmission occurs from swine or poultry to humans. The transmission from human to human is rarer and occurs from a mutation in the influenza strain. This particular strain of flu is Influenza A strain.
H1 (Hemagglutinin) genes have been around for thousands of years.
Epidemics and pandemics have occasionally occurred in pig populations.
Swine flu is a carefully watched type of influenza because pigs vary from most recipients, carriers and transmitters of contagious flu strains. Unlike most animals, they can contract human and avian borne influenza, recombine it and then transmit it in a new, more dangerous and more treatment-resistant form.
Flu is always being passed around the human population, but rarely has it reached threatening epidemic proportions.

The 1918 Influenza Epidemic
Called the “Spanish” influenza strain, and classified as pandemic, during 1918 and 1919 it is thought to have infected a third of the world population and caused perhaps as many as 50 million deaths, according to the U.S. Centre for Disease Control, which must have been figuratively holding its breath when it admitted deaths could have been nearly double that because many who died during that period were not actually diagnosed, nor were samples taken for lab testing and identification.
In 1918, causes of human flu and its links to avian and swine influenza were not known.

The 1976 Influenza Epidemic

In 1976, an Army recruit at Fort Dix, NJ, complained of feeling tired and weak. He died the next day (Feb. 5) and four other soldiers were soon hospitalized. Health officials attributed the death to swine flu and said the current flu strain was closely related to that of the 1918 epidemic.
Public health officials panicked and urged President Gerald Ford to act. About 24% of the U. S. population was vaccinated. The largest casualty, however, was approximately 500 cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome tied to an immunopathological reaction to the vaccine. There were 25 associated deaths from severe pulmonary complications.

The Present Swine Flu Threat

There was an outbreak of swine flu in the Philippines in 2007. The National Meat Inspection Service there raised a hog cholera red alert warning for the Manila region, then for five regions of Luzon after the disease spread to backyard pig farms.
The strain involved in the present 2009 outbreak involves a virus similar to that found in U.S. pigs since 1999, but there are also resemblances to versions present in European swine. One theory believes Asian and European strains travelled to Mexico in migratory birds, or in people, then combined with North American strains in Mexican pig factory farms before being transmitted to Mexican farm workers.
It’s hard to believe but, according to an April 22 statement by the U.S. Centre for Disease Control, there is no national surveillance system in place to determine what viruses are circulating in U.S. pigs.

Detect swine flu / Swine flu threats / Symptoms & Prevention / Treatment & Home remedies for swine flu

Note-Please note this article is just for reference. You are advise to contact your doctor for details.

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