Swine Flu

Swine flu refers to influenza caused by any strain of the influenza virus endemic in pigs (swine). Strains endemic in swine are called swine flu virus. The virus is contagious and can spread from human to human.

New cases of the deadly swine flu virus have been confirmed. The US, Canada, Spain and Britain confirmed cases earlier but now some more countries New Zealand and Israel are also added in the list, as the UN warns it cannot be controlled.

Global health authorities warned Wednesday that swine flu was threatening to bloom into a pandemic, and the virus spread further in Europe even as the outbreak appeared to stabilize at its epicenter. Mexico has raised the number of probable deaths to 152, with 1,614 suspected sufferers under observation. According to the UN inspector the pig farms may have spread the virus. The UN’s health agency, the World Health Organization, confirmed that the flu had been transmitted between humans.

WHO warns swine flu threatening to become pandemic

The World Health Organisation last night raised its swine flu global epidemic threat level to phase five – the second highest – as a result of the increasing number of people being confirmed as infected with the virus across the globe.

Phase five indicates the disease is able to spread easily between humans and is a strong signal that a pandemic is imminent. It can lead to governments bringing in measures to prevent its spread, including travel restrictions and trade limitations.

The next phase, six, is a full-blown pandemic, characterised by outbreaks in at least two regions of the world.

The increase in threat level comes after a 23-month-old Mexican child died in Texas, becoming the first person to die from swine flu outside the country of origin; while in Spain officials confirmed the first case of the disease in a person who has not travelled to Mexico.

The WHO had raised the alert level from three to four on Monday, the first time it had ever intervened to increase its pandemic threat warning. It said countries should activate their pandemic plans and remain on high alert.

Last night, the director general of the organisation, Dr Margaret Chan, announced the change at a press conference in Geneva and said action must be taken with "increased urgency". She said: "Influenza pandemics must be taken seriously, precisely because of their capacity to spread rapidly to every country in the world.

"All countries should immediately now activate their pandemic preparedness plans. It really is all of humanity that is under threat in a pandemic."

She added that, on the positive side, the world was better prepared for an influenza pandemic than at any time in history.

Measures taken because of the threat from avian influenza were an investment, and there was currently benefit from that investment. "For the first time in history, we can track the evolution of a pandemic in real time," she added.

She said new diseases by definition were poorly understood. "Influenza viruses are notorious for their rapid mutation and unpredictable behaviour. WHO and health authorities in affected countries will not have all the answers immediately, but we will get them."

Barack Obama described the situation as "serious" in a press conference last night and urged the public to show "great vigilance" in responding to swine flu.

He said, however, that there was no need for panic and rejected the possibility of closing the border with Mexico.

"At this point, (health officials) have not recommended a border closing," he said. "From their perspective, it would be akin to closing the barn door after the horses are out, because we already have cases here in the United States."

Peru later diagnosed its first case of swine flu, which appeared to be the first case in Latin America confirmed outside of Mexico. The Health Minister, Oscar Ugarte, subsequently announced the suspension of all commercial flights arriving in Peru from Mexico.

Mexico's government said it was temporarily suspending all nonessential activity of the federal government and private business as the number of confirmed swine flu cases jumped.

Mexico's president, Felipe Calderon, has told citizens to stay home from Friday for the five-day partial shutdown of the economy.

In his first televised address since the crisis erupted last week, he told Mexicans to stay home with their families. "There is no safer place than your own home to avoid being infected with the flu virus," he said.

Nonessential federal government offices will be closed from May 1-5 and all nonessential private businesses must also close for that period however essential services like transport, supermarkets, trash collection, hospital will remain open.

In the UK, five people have been confirmed as having been infected with swine flu. They included three people who returned on the same charter flight from Cancún, Mexico – a 12-year-old girl from Torbay and a couple from Polmont in Scotland who had been on honeymoon.

The number of suspected cases in the UK had risen to 78 by yesterday afternoon, but that figure continued to fluctuate as new suspected cases emerged and others were ruled out as negative.

Professor Sir Liam Donaldson, the government's chief medical adviser, said: "Phase five indicates that WHO considers a global pandemic to be imminent, whereas at phase four a global pandemic is not inevitable. A change to phase five is a signal to countries' governments to ramp up their pandemic preparations – which we are already doing. We have been planning for a situation like this for some years. The preparations we have in place and are continuing to make will help to ensure we respond well in the event of a pandemic."

Alan Johnson, the health secretary, said the government was obtaining extra antiviral drugs that would protect 50 million people, amounting to more than three-quarters of the UK population.

Last night, the European commission's most senior health official said that potentially thousands could die. Robert Madelin, director general for consumer health policy, said it was not a question of if people would die, but how many.

He said there was confidence that Europe was well prepared for a pandemic. But when asked if people could die, he replied: "Every year 2,500 people die of the flu in Europe; the question now is not whether people will die, but whether it will be thousands, tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands."

A British flu expert said the rise in threat level was not an "end of the world scenario". Dr Alan McNally explained that this meant the disease had been spread between humans in two countries: Spain and Mexico.

The senior lecturer and researcher into influenza diagnostics at Nottingham Trent University said no human-to-human cases had yet been reported in the UK, but that some could occur.

He said: "The vast majority of people have been going around treating this as a bit of a joke but that stage has now gone. The time has come to have a bit of common sense about it."

NHS Direct, the health and advice information service, released figures last night on the number of people visiting its website to find out more about swine flu.

A spokesman said more than 63,000 people visited NHS Direct on Tuesday this week, compared with around 39,000 on Tuesday last week. Of those, 16,638 people used the Cold and Flu Self Assessment Tool.

Monday saw an increase of about 30,000 hits on the website compared to the same time last week.

Meanwhile, 13,481 telephone calls were taken by the service yesterday. Of these, 1,659 were related to swine flu.

How swine flu spread?

Humans with direct exposure to pigs are those most commonly infected with swine flu. Human-to-human spreads of swine flu viruses have been documented; however, it's not known how easily the spread occurs. Just as the common flu is passed along, swine flu is thought to be spread by coughing, sneezing, or touching something that has the live virus on it.

If infected, a person may be able to infect another person one day before symptoms develop therefore, a person is able to pass the flu on before they know they are sick. Infected individuals may spread the virus for seven or more days after becoming sick. Those with swine flu should be considered potentially contagious as long as they are showing symptoms, and up to seven days or longer from the onset of their illness. Children might be contagious for longer periods of time.

Do face masks help prevent swine flu infection?

One of the main reason of spreading Swine Flu in humans by another infected human through coughing, sneezing, or touching something that has the live virus on it. A person is able to pass the flu on before they know they are sick. Infected individuals may spread the virus for seven or more days after becoming sick. Face masks are most useful to protect yourself from this deadly virus. Face masks must worn at crowded settings, such as classrooms or airplanes, where they will protect the mouth and nose from germs and reduce the likelihood of coughing or sneezing on other people.

Swine flu and Bird flu are airborne disease spread through person to person. And the most common way or spreading is coughing and sneezing, always use face mask to help prevent these deadly diseases.

Face Mask helps you to keep away from air pollution & airborne diseases

Currently face masks are a common sight, because of the pollution and airborne diseases. People now are more aware of pollution and airborne diseases. It is also helpful for those who suffer from such type of allergies. Researches have found that air pollution results in stiffness in the arteries. It have been discovered that arteries lose their flexibility when exposed to air pollution. It is found that wearing a face mask may help prevent this adverse effect from taking place.

Due to the rising pollution in the air the respiratory disease has been increased in the recent years. Research shows asthma and other respiratory diseases has become more common over the last 10 years, in UK, USA and Japan and it is found that people who are using regular face mask are less affected with pollution and any type of airborne diseases.

How To protect yourself from swine flu

There are antiviral medicines you can take to prevent or treat swine flu. There is no vaccine available right now to protect against swine flu. You can help prevent the spread of germs that cause respiratory illnesses like influenza by

• Covering your nose and mouth with face mask whenever you are going outside.
• Use tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
• Washing your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. You can also use alcohol-based hand cleaners.
• Avoiding touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread this way.
• Trying to avoid close contact with sick people.
• Staying home from work or school if you are sick.

Please find the latest update and news on Swine flu all over the world by clicking on the following links

Every UK household to receive swine flu information leaflet

BRITAIN TO SEE MANY MORE SWINE FLU CASES

Swine flu: the facts

As swine flu pandemonium grips Britain and the world, AOL takes a look at the facts you need to know about the potentially deadly virus.

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BBC NEWS LATEST UPDATES ON SWINE FLU

News - Wales - Minister 'expects' flu in Wales . Last updated: 27 Apr 2009
Health Minister Edwina Hart has said she "fully expects" there to be cases of the deadly swine 'flu in Wales. She said reports on the swine flu viruses involved indicated these drugs are effective

News - Business - Firms seeking swine flu answers . Last updated: 29 Apr 2009
The UK government must do more to help firms protect themselves from the swine flu threat, a business group says.

News - Health - NHS on alert for swine flu spread . Last updated: 28 Apr 2009
So with the first cases of swine flu confirmed in the UK what is the health service doing?. On Sunday, 88 people called NHS Direct in England about swine flu.

News - Health - Q&A: What is swine flu? . Last updated: 28 Apr 2009
Swine flu is a respiratory disease, caused by influenza type A which infects pigs. What is new about this type of swine flu?

News - Scotland - More swine flu tests in Scotland . Last updated: 28 Apr 2009
Swine flu is believed to have claimed almost 150 lives in Mexico. None of these 23 cases had been confirmed as swine flu, Ms Sturgeon said.

News - Americas - Life at centre of swine flu outbreak . Last updated: 27 Apr 2009
Since then, a health minister has revealed that the toll of suspected swine flu deaths has risen to 149. For now, Mexico is at the mercy of a virus that no one yet fully understands.

News - Americas - Mexico flu 'a potential pandemic' . Last updated: 26 Apr 2009
A top US health official said the strain of swine flu had spread widely and could not be contained.

Live up to the minute BBC news information on swine flu

LATEST DEVELOPEMENTS AND CONFIRMED CASESC OF SWINE FLU FROM AROUND THE WORLD

WHO IS COORDINATING THE GLOBAL RESPONSE TO THE SWINE FLU PANDEMI