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Revision as of 21:07, 31 May 2006 by Carcharoth (talk | contribs) (add category)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)| Influenza (flu) |
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Swine Flu refers to a subset of Orthomyxoviridae that create influenza in pigs and are endemic in pigs. This is not a phylogenetics based taxonomic category.
The species of Orthomyxoviridae that can cause flu in pigs are Influenza A virus and Influenza C virus but not all genotypes of these two species infect pigs.
The known subtypes of Influenza A virus that create influenza in pigs and are endemic in pigs are H1N1, H1N2 and H3N2.
A H1N1 shift crossed over to humans in the early part of the 20th century, causing the Spanish Flu pandemic, which killed up to 50 million people. The death toll was particularly high among young, healthy adults.
The U.S. swine flu scare of 1976
On February 5, 1976, an army recruit at Fort Dix said he felt tired and weak. He died the next day and four of his fellow soldiers were later hospitalized. Two weeks after his death, health officials announced that swine flu was the cause of death. Alarmed public-health officials decided that action must be taken to head off a major pandemic, and they urged that every person in the U.S. be vaccinated for the disease. President Gerald Ford was confronted with a potential swine flu pandemic. The vaccination program was plagued by delays and public relations problems, but about 24% of the population was vaccinated by the time the program was cancelled.
The vaccine was blamed for 25 deaths (more people died from the vaccine than died from the swine flu itself) and a small, but statistically significant, rise in the incidence of a rare illness called Guillain-Barré syndrome, or GBS.
See also
Sources
- Swine Diseases (Chest) - Swine Influenza, Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine
- ^ The Sky is Falling: An Analysis of the Swine Flu Affair of 1976
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