America's North Shore Journal

Swine are pigs. Pigs are swine. Swine flu is the name of any number of influenza illnesses that pigs may experience. Occasionally, these illnesses are transmittable to humans.

The human outbreak of “swine flu” that most people remember happened at Fort Dix, N.J. in 1976. About 230 people contracted the disease, with 13 being hospitalized. One person died. The outbreak did not spread beyond the area.

The Federal Government, and the various public health agencies here and abroad, reacted swiftly to the outbreak. A vaccine was developed and approved and placed into use. Unfortunately, thousands of people reported serious side effects to the vaccine, and its use was discontinued.

UPDATED At this time there appears to be a small outbreak of swine flu in California and Texas. At this writing eight cases, six in California, have been confirmed. The virus is called A)H1N1, the same designation at the Spanish flu, but its genetic characteristics are primarily from the swine variant and not the human one.

None of the seven patients appear to have had any contact with pigs. Family relationships among several of the patients strongly suggests human to human transmission of the disease.

The current illness tests as non-resistant to the anti-viral drugs oseltamivir and zanamavir. At this time, normal universal precautions are suggested for health care providers. Patients feeling ill are urged to stay home from work or school and follow standard influenza care recommendations.

There are reports originating in Mexico of a serious respiratory illness with associated deaths. As this is written, there is no data that this is related to the swine flu cases in the United States. Mexico has been in a state of turmoil for some time now, due to severe criminal activity and a number of revolutionary movements. Parts of the country are not under the control of the national government. Healthcare is not to U.S. standards and many Mexicans will have lowered resistance due to poverty and other Third World conditions.

Due to the conditions in Mexico, the population will typically be susceptible to more illness and more severe illness. Caution should be taken in presuming that any outbreak is swine flu. Confirmation or denial for this specific illness by the CDC should not take very long. Do not panic. This is merely the news media’s plague du jour, now that bird flu seems to have not amounted to much of an illness.

Centers for Disease Control Swine Flu website