Updates Swine Flu

Swine flu is now the first global pandemic of the 21^st century. Swine flu has been renamed Swine-Origin Influenza Virus (S-OIV). Gavin Smith et al. found H1N1 had been consorting with others, shown in a hideous diagram from Ed Yong's update on the situation.

Reference

Smith, G., Vijaykrishna, D., Bahl, J., Lycett, S., Worobey, M., Pybus, O., et al. (2009). Origins and evolutionary genomics of the 2009 swine-origin H1N1 influenza A epidemic. Nature DOI: 10.1038/nature08182

Swine Flu: Implication for New Zealand

Swine Influenza (swine flu) is a respiratory disease of pigs caused by type A influenza viruses. Outbreaks of swine flu happen regularly in pigs. People do not normally get swine flu, but human infections can and do happen. Most commonly, human cases of swine flu happen in people who are around pigs but it’s possible for swine flu viruses to spread from person to person also. - Centre for Disease Control and Prevention

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