What is Swine Flu?
I’m sure you’ve heard about swine flu and how it has been a scare to most of the people all over the world. What is it anyway? I have read from Wikipedia that swine flu refers to influenza caused by any strain of the influenza virus endemic in pigs (swine). Strains endemic in swine are called swine influenza virus or SIV.
News are everywhere about this and here’s a little update from CNN.
The number of confirmed swine flu cases worldwide has risen to 154, with six additional cases reported in Spain, the World Health Organization said Thursday.
The WHO is troubled because in one of the 10 cases in Spain the virus was transmitted from person-to-person within the community.
The other nine infected people had returned from Mexico, where the crisis is most severe, according to WHO spokesman Dick Thompson.
If Spain sees more such cases of community transmission, the world body may have to elevate its pandemic alert to its highest level. Phase 6 is the pandemic phase and is characterized by a community-level outbreak in another country in a different WHO region.
If you are traveler I’m sure that you will be concerned. Knowing that this virus is almost everywhere. So for the rest of the week, expect a lot of articles about swine flu and hopefully some tips on how to avoid it.