An introduction to Swine Flu
About Swine-Flu (H1N1)
Swine flu is an Influenza A virus, belonging to the H1N1 group of viruses. Swine flu is common in pigs and very rare in humans. The only people normally at risk are those who work closely with pigs and are therefore constantly exposed to swine flu. Normally swine flu influenza viruses hardly ever pass from human to human because it rarely mutates to a transmissible form.
The current flu outbreak that is a mutated form of influenza virus. It is only partly swine in origin. The new strain is an influenza A virus subtype H1N1 that is part human influenza, part avian and is a combination of two strains of swine influenza.
A small history of flu pandemics
Pandemics have swept the world for as long as we can remember. The ferocity and potential devastation that can be caused by them as increased exponentially since the start of the industrial revolution. The world population has increased enormously since the start of the last century, new cities have formed and old ones have expanded.
Isolated instances of new infectious diseases no longer remain isolated due to the urbanization of human societies and the increased movement people. Small instances of disease can now potentially become global pandemics.
Pandemics in the 20th century
The most devastating pandemic in recent history was the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918. It killed more than 50 million people and it is estimated that it infected more than 40% of the world’s population.
Smaller pandemics have struck since. The 1957 Asian flu pandemic killed more than 70,000 Americans of the 45 million infected. Globally it killed more than two million people.
A little more than a decade later in 1968 the Hong Kong flu pandemic killed 30,000 Americans and infected 50 million. Globally it killed about 1 million people.
The possible causalities of swine flu is impossible to predict.But the world is more prepared this time round. Hopefully the overall number of causalities will be low due to the worlds heightened level of preparedness.
Origins of swine flu
Diseases that jump species has been known for years. And swine flu is no exception. The first strain of the virus was reported in the United States in 1930. But incidence of the disease has been relatively rare since, with only one case in reported in the U.S every year and only people dying of the disease since 1976. Mexican strain of the disease is much more infectious than the previous versions of swine flu. However, everything else about the disease is still cloaked in mystery and researchers are working diligently to find out how quickly it infects, how often it kills and even the cause of death of those who actually die from the disease.
Possible source of swine flu
In February 2009 a village in Mexico fell ill to an outbreak of a mysterious respiratory disease. The disease was so severe that more than 400 people in the region requested medical help. In the end more than 60% of the village became ill from the disease.
The disease was swine flu.
From the information gathered so far, it is likely that swine flu originated somewhere around the village of La Gloria in Eastern Mexico. One of the 400, a four year old boy who suffered from extreme flu-like symptoms was taken to a hospital in the region and he subsequently tested positive for the same strain of the swine flu virus that has has now spanned the globe.
Two babies died from the symptoms of the disease in the same village.
Local health officials established a cordon during the period around the village of La Gloria in the hope of containing the spread of the disease.