This is a very serious matter, the class 4, swine flu or pig flu H1N1 Flu.
The flu started in Mexico and now spreading to the US, Israel, Canada, New Zealand, the UK, South Korea and Austria.
It will be spreading and there is no antidote yet, according to reports from the US. They need at least 6 months to come out with something.
Please follow the update at : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_H1N1_flu_outbreak
This statement is something that we need to be aware and perhaps digest:
The new strain is an apparent assortment of several strains of influenza A virus subtype H1N1, which analysis at the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identified as a strain endemic in humans, a strain endemic in birds, and two strains endemic in American and Eurasian pigs (swine).[36]
This was how it started:
The earliest confirmed case of the illness was in the town of La Gloria, Veracruz, Mexico, where a boy fell ill on April 2.[46][47] Beginning in early March, a flu that progressed in many cases to respiratory illness affected 60% of La Gloria's residents;[46][48] however, no further cases of swine flu have been confirmed in the town.[46] La Gloria is located near a pig farming operation that raises nearly one million pigs per year, and town residents have long been bothered by flies that multiply in the pig farm's manure lagoons.[46]
The Mexican Social Security Institute stated in early April that these flies may have been the original disease vector of the virus.[49] The owner of the pig farm, Smithfield Foods, has stated that it had found no clinical signs or symptoms of the presence of swine influenza in the company's swine herd, nor in its employees at its joint ventures in Mexico, and that it routinely administers influenza virus vaccination to their swine herds and conducts monthly testing for the presence of swine influenza.[50]
The outbreak was first detected in Mexico City, where surveillance began picking up a surge in cases of Influenza like illness (ILI) starting March 18.[51] The surge was assumed by Mexican authorities to be "late-season flu" (which usually coincides with a mild Influenzavirus B peak)[52] until April 21,[53][54] when a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention alert concerning two isolated cases of a novel swine flu was reported in the media.[55] The first two cases identified (and confirmed) as swine flu were two children living in the United States, in San Diego County and Imperial County, California, who became ill on March 28 and 30.[56] This new strain was promptly confirmed in Mexico, connecting the new strain to the ongoing outbreak of ILI. The first death from swine flu occurred on April 13, when a diabetic woman from Oaxaca died from respiratory complications.[57][58] Some samples were sent to the U.S.-based CDC on April 18.[59]
In March and April 2009, over 1000 cases of suspected swine flu in humans were detected in Mexico and the southwestern United States. The strain appears to be unusually lethal in Mexico, causing 152 deaths (26 confirmed)[60] so far, mostly in Mexico City.[61] There have also been cases reported in the states of San Luis Potosí, Hidalgo, Querétaro and Mexico State, all in central Mexico;[62] Some cases in Mexico and the United States have been confirmed by the World Health Organization to be a never-before-seen strain of H1N1.[51][63]
The Mexican fatalities are mainly young adults of 25 to 45, a common trait of pandemic flu.[36][64] A new swine flu strain was confirmed in 16 of the deaths and at least 100 others were being tested as of April 24, 2009.[65] Mexican Health Minister José Ángel Córdova on April 24, said "We’re dealing with a new flu virus that constitutes a respiratory epidemic that so far is controllable."[62]
For now you need to be very careful with your travelling plans and wash your hand regularly to avoid contamination. Start wearing those masks if you are using public vehicles like buses and trains.
Stay at home and stock those drinks and food and avoid going to public places until the flu die down.
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