Well before we look into what is happening around the world, let’s have a look at what swine flu is.

First what is Swine Flu?

Swine flu is a respiratory disease which infects pigs.

Caused by influenza type A, there are regular outbreaks among herds of pigs, where the disease causes high levels of illness but is rarely fatal.

It tends to spread in autumn and winter but can circulate all year round.

There are many different types of swine flu and like human flu, the infection is constantly changing. 

Can we humans catch the swine flu?

Swine flu does not normally infect humans, although sporadic cases do occur – usually in people who have had close contact with pigs.

There have also been rare documented cases of humans passing the infection to other humans.

Human-to-human transmission of swine flu is thought to spread in the same way as seasonal flu – through coughing and sneezing.

In the latest outbreak it is clear that the disease is being passed from person to person.

Is the new outbreak a new type of swine flu?

The World Health Organization has confirmed that at least some of the cases are a never-before-seen version of the H1N1 strain of influenza type A.

H1N1 is the same strain which causes seasonal outbreaks of flu in humans on a regular basis.

But this latest version of H1N1 is different: it contains genetic material that is typically found in strains of the virus that affect humans, birds and Pigs.

Flu viruses have the ability to swap genetic components with each other, and it seems likely that the new version of H1N1 resulted from a mixing of different versions of the virus, which may usually affect different species, in the same animal host.

All above information is from Wiki and BBC news web sites.

Great Swine Flu Epidemic So what has happened so far?

According to reports from around the world the swine flu los cabos in Mexico, where so far around 1500 people have contacted the Mexico swine flu with 101 none to have died. Bring this to 2% fatality rate.  In the U.S. there have been 11 cases from seven people in California, two in Texas, and two in Kansas.

There are also eight suspected cases in New York City after 200 students at a high school fell ill. Also two people have been admitted to a hospital in Scotland with flu-like symptoms after returning from Mexico. Also there have been cases across Europe and a far a field as New Zealand. But yet there have been no fatalities anywhere but Mexico. With this is in mind the CDC and WHO have stated that the deaths in Mexico could be linked to another virus that has mixed with the swine flu casing a much more server strain.

But the WHO can not rule out that this could turn in to a world wide pandemic. If this is true and a 2% fatality rate that could mean 125 million people could die. That is if every person on the planet had the virus.

Other Flu Pandemics

1918: The Spanish flu pandemic remains the most devastating outbreak of modern times. Caused by a form of the H1N1 strain of flu, it is estimated that up to 40% of the world’s population were infected, and more than 50 million people died, with young adults particularly badly affecteed

1957: Asian flu killed two million people. Caused by a human form of the virus, H2N2, combining with a mutated strain found in wild ducks. The impact of the pandemic was minimised by rapid action by health authorities, who identified the virus, and made vaccine available speedily. The elderly were particularly vulnerable 

1968: An outbreak first detected in Hong Kong, and caused by a strain known as H3N2, killed up to one million people globally, with those over 65 most likely to die

Related Posts

• Police shoot Travis the Chimp after Travis the chimpanzee goes berserk wounds U.S. woman Police shot and killed Travis the chimp a 200-pound (90-kg) chimpanzee that had once had stardom in television commercials for for Coca-Cola and the clothing retailer Old Navy after the chimpanzee attack almost killed its owner's friend and then attacked a police cruiser. The victim, Charla Nash, 55, was in......
• Chilli World is All Heated Up Dorset Naga Now that a bona fide Indian has got another world crown, it has to guard against impostors. For instance, a British couple who run a mail order chilli business, spent four years developing the 'Dorset Naga' from seeds that they had picked up by chance from a shop in Bournemouth.......
• The Swine Flu Now at Pandemic Alert Phase 5. What Does that Mean Pandemic Alert Phases In nature, influenza viruses circulate continuously among animals. Even though such viruses might theoretically develop into pandemic viruses, in Phase 1 no viruses circulating among animals have been reported to cause infections in humans. In Phase 2 an animal influenza virus circulating among domesticated or wild animals......
• The New York City Department of Education Has Closed Almost all NYC Public School Closings [ad#news] The New York City department of education has closed almost all NYC public school closings for the first time in 5 years due to a major snowstorm hit the city. NYC board of education blamed snow and wind for the decision. NYC dept of ed offices were not officially......
• Breathe Responsibly, Enter the Walk-in Cocktail Bar Are you sick of been bombarded about drinking responsibly. Well customers entering a new cocktail bar where they are literally enveloped in a mist of alcohol are warned to breathe responsibly. Just 40 minutes inside the venue - which delivers an intoxicating vapour of gin and tonic - will leave......

Related Websites

• Bubonic Plague outbreak in Libya The World Health Organization (WHO) is investigating a reported bubonic plague outbreak in the Libyan coastal town of Tubruq, which sits on the Mediterranean. According to reports attributed to John Jabhour, a WHO emerging diseases expert based in Cairo, about 16 to 18 people have been affected so far, with......
• Five Grocery Items That Have Not Increased in Price photo credit: CoreForceLike seemingly everything else these days, food costs have gone through the roof in recent months. Between the rising cost of transporting food from the growers to the market and the increased expenses related to manufacturing foods, it’s no wonder that your food expenses have started to......
• Marketing Your Blog For Profit If you are thinking of starting a money making blog you need to think about the types of internet marketing techniques that you will be utilizing. Without marketing your blog, you will have no customers and therefore no profits. The right kind of marketing is crucial, even for new blogs.......
• Dish Network 24 One way to save money is on your cable or satelite provider.  Why pay all that money for channels you never use?  How many times have you said, all these channels and there is nothing on.  We have said this many times. We have a satelite dish from Dish Network. ......
• Swine Flu Epidemic/Pandemic   Update 04/29/09: Swine Flu is now Pandemic in reach. We've all most likely heard of the swine flu and how it has killed a growing number of people in Mexico, US and UK. Hence, there must be a lot questions on our minds right now like what in the......