Swine influenza

Swine influenza is an infection caused by any of several types of swine influenza viruses. Swine influenza virus (SIV) or swine-origin influenza virus (S-OIV) refers to any strain of the influenza family of viruses that is endemic in pigs. As of 2009, identified SIV strains include influenza C and the subtypes of influenza A known as H1N1, H1N2, H2N1, H3N1, H3N2, and H2N3. The swine influenza virus is common throughout pig populations worldwide. Transmission of the virus from pigs to humans is rare, and does not always lead to human illness, often resulting only in the production of antibodies in the blood. If transmission causes human illness, it is called zoonotic swine flu. People with regular exposure to pigs are at increased risk of swine flu infections. Around the mid-20th century, identification of influenza sub-types was made possible, allowing accurate diagnosis of transmission to humans. Since then, only 50 such transmissions have been confirmed. These strains of swine flu rarely pass from human to human. Symptoms of zoonotic swine flu in humans are similar to those of influenza and of influenza-like illness and include chills, fever, sore throat, muscle pains, severe headache, coughing, weakness, shortness of breath, and general discomfort. It is estimated that, in the 2009 flu pandemic, 11–21% of the then global population (of about 6.8 billion), equivalent to around 700 million to 1.4 billion people, contracted the illness—more, in absolute terms, than the Spanish flu pandemic. There were 18,449 confirmed fatalities. However, in a 2012 study, the CDC estimated more than 284,000 possible fatalities worldwide, with numbers ranging from 150,000 to 575,000. In August 2010, the World Health Organization declared the swine flu pandemic officially over. Subsequent cases of swine flu were reported in India in 2015, with over 31,156 positive test cases and 1,841 deaths. In pigs, a swine influenza infection produces fever, lethargy, discharge from the nose or eyes, sneezing, coughing, difficulty breathing, eye redness or inflammation, and decreased appetite.