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As many as 153 people have been infected this summer with a new pig flu virus, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said this week, although the disease does not appear to be any more serious than normal seasonal flu. Nine out of 10 of them are children, CDC says.
Most cases appear to be among people who were showing pigs, or people visiting fairs and other places where these pigs are, CDC says. This suggests they are catching the flu directly from infected pigs. So far everyone has gotten better on their own, Dr. Joseph Bresee, from the CDC's influenza division, told reporters on a telephone briefing Thursday.
“At this point there is no evidence of sustained, efficient human to human spread,” Bresee said. “This is not a pandemic situation.”
But Bresee cautioned that even seasonal flu can kill people and this is likely the case with the new form of flu, which is designated H3N2v.
The new strain of H3N2 was first seen last year, and three people were confirmed to have caught the bug from other people. So far it has not been any more serious than regular, seasonal flu, causing fever, a sore throat and achy muscles. Last year no one ended up in the hospital with the new flu. This year, two people have but they are fine now, Bresee said.
While the current flu vaccine does not protect against this new virus coming straight from pigs to people, patients can be treated with the two drugs that work against seasonal flu – Tamiflu and Relenza.
Most of the cases have been in Indiana, where 120 have been reported, the CDC said. There have also been 31 cases in Ohio, one case in Hawaii and one case in Illinois.
Flu viruses have eight genes, and this one is seven-eighths pig virus -- a virus designated H3N2 that’s been circulating among swine for years. But one single gene comes from the H1N1 swine flu virus that caused a new pandemic of influenza among people in 2009 and which is now part of the human seasonal flu mix.
The names can be confusing because there's also an H3N2 virus that causes seasonal flu in people, and it's one of the three strains of flu virus that is included in the vaccine that's just arriving in doctor's offices and clinics now. "Get your flu vaccine," Bresee advised. "Everybody should get a flu vaccine this year in the U.S. because regular, seasonal flu will be here soon."
CDC stressed that only people who have contact with pigs are at any real risk of catching this flu. "This time of year is the time when you have state and county fairs…there’s thousands of them," Bresee said. CDC has some simple advice to prevent infection:
- Wash your hands after you've been near any live pigs
- Don't bring any food or drink into areas where live pigs are
- Stay away from swine if you are at high risk from flu, for instance if you are elderly or have a weakened immune system.
Swine flu vaccine may lead to broader flu protection
Swine flu outbreak 15 times deadlier than thought, study finds
A new strain of swine flu has been found among people who recently attended county fairs. NBC's Erika Edwards reports.
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How does the CDC get the information if it is just like the normal Flu? What would prompt doctors to draw blood and send it somewhere to check for the virus strain? If anyone can explain, I would be very grateful.
the CDC is the national repository and laboratory for disease. as such, if a medical condition occurs to a doctor to fall under state or federal disease reporting guidelines, a set of samples will be sent to a qualified state laboratory (Minnesota has one, for example) or the CDC. if it looks really interesting, it gets to the CDC. they can gene sequence and rapid-test like few others in the world.
alternatively, if there is a puzzling case that doctors are having issues figuring out, like the amoebic death last week here, samples are sent to the CDC for help in diagnosis and suggested treatments. if an epidemic type of situation appears to be occurring, laws require bringing in the CDC.
so that's why they crop up all the time. that's where the expertise is.
@swschrad,
Most local public health systems have DNA-typing kits that can determine the major strains of samples. The CDCP tells them which major strains they are interested in and they respond with all samples of that major type. When one of interest turns up (as this one) the CDCP asks the local public health systems to aggrressively screen for it. It's a massive and well-run system.
Marketing for big pharma, per usual.
Yes. It's a conspiracy with the flu virus, big pharma is colluding with them to charge you $20 and make a $1 profit off your misery of having to go in to a pharmacy and getting stuck with a needle.
The pigs are in on it too!
you really are an ignorant fool
So there's a new flu out there. Big Deal.
Okay it's my question is it's pig
flu so does that mean that all the politicians are in trouble after all there always messing around with the pork spending?
You're a pork barrel of laughs... :D
maybe if we stopped treating pigs like they were dead sardines in a tin can, they would not get sickly and pass on the virus to usl
Oink-chew!
We need to crank up a billion dollar pig vaccination program right away. Why? To spend another billion taxpayer dollars, of course. It is what governments do.
Only when necessary. Unless you mean it's a corrupt corporation that has managed to lobby for it. But we can't stop that, it would impeding the free market.
that vaccine will be coming to a walmart near you any week now.
last month Avian jumped to mammals (killed some baby seals) on North America. IJS
sea gulls/birds, coasts... seals blah blah blah. Ez 2 c how it could transfer. Lotta Great Whites too. Lotta seals... Lotta distance they can and do travel...
Dear CDC,
Just FYI, all influenza actually originated in pigs so to call something swine flu or pig flu just reveals how ignorant you actually are. In a country of 300 million people 153 people getting sick hardly should hardly rate a mention. As for the flu shots you recommend those only protect against current flu strains and not against any mutations. Literally billions of dollars have been spent on flu vaccines over the past ten years, the vast majority of it wasted, and while people occasionally die of the flu (3,000 last year versus the 190,000 predicted by the CDC) statistically the numbers are virtually meaningless. In an average year about 800 people in the U.S die from the flu and virtually all of them have preexisting illnesses. For the CDC to spend the taxpayer's money trying to panic the public over influenza at the expense of other far deadlier diseases is a travesty. It isn't the CDC's job to be a cheerleader for the flu or for their newest project, shingles, which even more rarely fatal.
If flu starts with swine, why not eradicate the source? Pigs carry more parasites than a lot of animals. The trichina worm, for example. I don't eat pork anymore, haven't for years, for health reasons.