New Outbreak of Human Swine Influenza (H1N1)

Here is a considerably serious news item: a mutated strain of the H1N1 virus — responsible for the human form of Swine Influenza — has made its debut in Mexico and parts of the US.

Could this, finally, be the “jump” of a highly pathogenic virus from animals to humans that public-health officials have been, for some time, warning us about? I recently watched a great documentary called Pandemic, produced by BBC Horizon (torrent are available online). It highlights the issues surrounding the Avian Influenza virus, H5N1, which has already killed countless birds and a number of mammals, from chimpanzees to tigers to humans.

Within the last couple of days, it has been reported that around 60 people in Mexico have been killed by this previously unknown strain of H1N1. Victims suffer similar symptoms as those who have fallen ill to H5N1: failure of the respiratory system — the fit and young are especially vulnerable due to their strong immune system (cytokine storm). Also, eight lab-confirmed cases, so far, have been reported in California and Texas. This indicates that the virus has become transferable from human to human, since some of those who have become infected had not being in contact with pigs.

The 1918 flu pandemic, also known as the Spanish flu, was also caused by a highly pathogenic strain of H1N1. An estimated 20 – 100-million people were killed world-wide.

I am staying up-to-date with the H1N1 situation through the the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Apr200924

Eastwood

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