Know the facts
What is H1N1 (swine) flu?
What should I do if I get sick?
How do you catch H1N1 (swine) flu?
Types of Flu (Influenza)
H1N1 Influenza (H1N1flu) is a respiratory disease of pigs caused by type A influenza viruses that causes regular outbreaks in pigs. People do not normally get swine flu, but human infections can and do happen.
Bird flu is commonly used to refer to Avian flu (see below). Bird flu viruses infect birds, including chickens, other poultry and wild birds such as ducks.
Avian flu (AI) is caused by influenza viruses that occur naturally among wild birds. Low pathogenic AI is common in birds and causes few problems. Highly pathogenic H5N1 is deadly to domestic fowl, can be transmitted from birds to humans, and is deadly to humans. There is virtually no human immunity and human vaccine availability is very limited.
Pandemic flu is virulent human flu that causes a global outbreak, or pandemic, of serious illness. Because there is little natural immunity, the disease can spread easily from person to person. Currently, there is no pandemic flu.
Seasonal (or common) flu is a respiratory illness that can be transmitted person to person. Most people have some immunity, and a vaccine is available.
Swine Influenza (Flu)
Human cases of swine influenza A (H1N1) virus infection have been identified in the United States. Human cases of swine influenza A (H1N1) virus infection also have been identified internationally. The current U.S. case count is provided below.
An investigation and response effort surrounding the outbreak of swine flu is ongoing.
CDC is working very closely with officials in states where human cases of swine influenza A (H1N1) have been identified, as well as with health officials in Mexico, Canada and the World Health Organization. This includes deploying staff domestically and internationally to provide guidance and technical support.
CDC is working very closely with officials in states where human cases of swine influenza A (H1N1) have been identified, as well as with health officials in Mexico, Canada and the World Health Organization. This includes deploying staff domestically and internationally to provide guidance and technical support.
What you can do to stay healthy?!!!
There are everyday actions people can take to stay healthy.
- Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
- Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hands cleaners are also effective.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread that way.
- Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
- Stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.
If you get sick, CDC recommends that you stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.
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World News
June 2 —
CDC Updates U.S. H1N1 Flu Situation: 52* states 11054 cases
June 2 —
WHO Updates International H1N1 Situation: 66 Countries Reported 19273 Cases
June 2 —
CDC: H1N1 (Swine Flu) Resources for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
June 1 —
WHO Updates International H1N1 Situation: 62 countries Reported 17410 cases
June 1 —
CDC Updates U.S. H1N1 Flu Situation: 51* states 10053 cases
A container of flu virus samples packed in dry ice exploded on a Swiss train, injuring one person but posing no other risks to humans, police said on Tuesday.
The box held vials of swine flu virus, although a different strain than the H1N1 variety that has caused about 150 deaths in Mexico and infected people in the United States, Canada, Spain and Britain.
2 more cases of pig-borne disease reported in Sichuan
Two more cases of a pig-borne endemic were reported in southwest China's Sichuan Province as of 12:00 a. m. Thursday, but no death was reported, according to the
Experts worried about human deaths in China caused by pig disease
Experts on a strep germ that's sickening people and pigs in China are baffled by reports of 37 farmers suddenly falling ill, bleeding under the skin and dying -- all previously
1 new death of pig-borne endemic reported in Sichuan
The death toll of the pig-borne endemic in southwest China's Sichuan Province had reached 37 as of 12:00 a.m. Tuesday, with one new death reported, according to the
No new cases in pig disease outbreak
No new cases of the streptococcus suis infection were identified in Sichuan Province between noon Sunday and noon yesterday, according to the Ministry of Health. Health
Mass production of vaccine against pig-borne epidemic starts
China Animal Husbandry Industry Co.Ltd. announced here that its subsidiary Chengdu medicine machinery company has produced 700,000 to 800,000 doses of vaccines as of
2 new deaths of pig-borne endemic reported in Sichuan
The death toll of the pig-borne endemic in southwest China's Sichuan Province had reached 36 as of 12:00 a.m. Monday, with two new deaths reported, according to the
Butchers take lessons from swine virus breakout
Chinese butchers have taken a hard-learned lesson from the pig-borne endemic which has claimed 34 lives in the southwestern province of Sichuan. "I would
No new death of pig-borne endemic reported in Sichuan
No new death of the pig-borne endemic in southwest China's Sichuan Province was reported as of 12 a.m. Sunday, according to the Chinese Ministry of Health.
Death toll of pig-borne endemic rises to 34 in Sichuan
The death toll of the pig-borne endemic in southwest China's Sichuan Province reached 34 as of 12 a. m. Saturday, according to the Chinese Ministry of Health.
No human infection of pig-borne bacteria in Beijing
No human infection of streptococosis II, a kind of pig-borne bacteria, or live pigs infected by the bacteria has been spotted in Beijing, a spokesman for the
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Pig disease found in five more cities
The deadly Streptococcus suis disease was found in five more cities across Southwest China's Sichuan Province on Friday. Also on Friday, one more person was killed by
Death toll in southwest China from pig-borne disease rises to 31
The death toll from a pig-borne disease in southwestern China rose to 31 on Friday as health officials stepped up preventative measures and tried to reassure the
China starts producing pig-borne disease vaccine
People in southwest China that affected by a pig-borne disease are expected to receive vaccines soon. According to experts with the team sent by the
Death toll of pig-borne epidemic reaches 31 in Sichuan
The death toll of the pig-borne epidemic in southwest China's Sichuan Province reached 31 as of 12a.m. Thursday, according to the Chinese Ministry of Health.
HK unlikely affected by Sichuan outbreak: official
The mainland has suspended Sichuan meat exports, making Hong Kong's chances of being affected by the Streptococcus suis outbreak slim, Secretary for Health,
24 die of mysterious disease related to pig bacteria
China's Ministry of Health says 117 people have been infected by a mysterious disease related to a pig bacteria in Sichuan Province. The ministry said
Death toll in China's mystery illness rises to 19, 17 more in critical condition
The death toll from a pig-borne disease in southwestern China has risen by two to 19, with 17 people in critical condition, but no person-to-person transmissions have
Ministries on alert for Sichuan swine virus infection
Chinese Ministry of Health and Ministry of Agriculture are closely monitoring the swine virus infection that took place in southwest China's Sichuan Province.
Experts pinpoint virus in unknown disease
Preliminary investigation shows the unknown disease in southwest China's Sichuan Province was caused by a kind of a swine virus known as
Death toll from unknown illness rises to 17 in Sichuan
An unidentified disease have claimed lives of 17 local farmers and stricken 41 others as of Saturday noon in southwest China's Sichuan Province, the provincial
Unknown disease claims 9 lives in Sichuan
An unknown disease has stricken 20 villagers and killed nine of them in southwest China's Sichuan Province over the past four weeks, the provincial health
HONG KONG, China; May 5, 2009.- Then again, they couldn't have known because the influenza virus was only identified in 1933, by a British research team. But how times have changed.Just over a month after people started falling ill in Mexico, experts have identified the culprit to be a novel H1N1 flu virus, which carries genetic material that is mostly swine with the rest being human and avian.Scientists in Mexico, the United States and New Zealand have since posted full sequences of its DNA taken from 34 virus samples in an online public library. And the list is growing.
What this means is scientists everywhere can now use these descriptions to create new tools to fight the virus, such as rapid diagnostic test kits and vaccines.
While the fastest conventional tests take up to two days, scientists are designing highly specific ones that can pick up this swine H1N1 flu virus in four to six hours.
Explaining the "polymerase chain reaction" technique used in the test kit, a scientist with a top government hospital in Asia said: "A well-designed rapid (real time) PCR test should be able to detect specific swine H1N1 virus in a sample by detecting gene sequences that are unique to this virus and no other."
Mark von Itzstein, director of the Institute for Glycomics in Australia's Griffith University, said: "It will rapidly let us identify if it is swine H1N1, and if it is, we will want to treat the patients within a 48 hour period (after symptoms begin) with Tamiflu, quarantine them and monitor their recovery."
Hong Kong scientists hope to design a PCR kit by next week. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is sending test kits to U.S. states and Mexico but other countries don't want to wait.
"The genetic sequences have just been made available … many laboratories are rushing to find the best test, it will take one to two weeks (for us to design one), but we need a lot of validation, we need hundreds of specimen to do that," said microbiologist Yuen Kwok-yung at the University of Hong Kong.
MANY MYSTERIES
The virus has killed 176 people in Mexico and spread to at least 10 other countries but most of the cases outside Mexico have been mild, an observation that has intrigued everyone.
Nobody knows for sure how this virus came to be, which animal passed it to the first human patient and when that occurred.
But experts expect to find out a little more through analyzing its samples and tracking its DNA changes over time.
"The current analysis indicates this is mainly a swine virus, but further whole genome sequencing throughout the pandemic period and comparison with previous purely swine viruses (isolated from pigs) will be able to tell us which genes are mutating to allow pig-to-human transmission and then more efficient human-to-human transmission," said the scientist with the government hospital in Asia.
"If you can sequence full viral genomes at regular time points during the pandemic, you can see how the pandemic strain is evolving with the human pandemic and which genes are evolving in parallel with new clinical and epidemiological developments, for example, say patients now do not get diarrhea as a routine feature of the current virus strain, but later on, they start to develop diarrhea — which gene mutation may have lead to this new clinical feature?"
The virus, which had never been seen until it turned up in people in Mexico, is designated H1N1, within the same family as the seasonal human H1N1 flu virus. But curiously, the H1N1 component in the current human flu vaccine offers no protection.
"We need a new vaccine (to fight the new flu virus), it only takes one amino acid change in the whole protein makeup of the virus to escape the vaccine," said Itzstein.
The CDC is making available virus samples for manufacturers to make a vaccine as needed.
"We will quickly get hold of the seed of the new flu virus … and produce a vaccine," Japan's Health Minister Yoichi Masuzoe told a news conference on Thursday.
However some experts doubt if that is practical. A vaccine is not expected to be commercially available until 3 to 6 months after licensing, by which time a pandemic may have entered another phase, or may just be over. The World Health Organization will decide later whether one is needed.
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