Swine Flu

[BMichalak]

I was just wondering about a few things with the flu virus.....

I have not realy checked too far into it but i was wondering,
       1)Is this something that us as hog hunters REALLY need to look out for, seeing as how we all handle hogs?

       2) or is it just with eating pork, can we get it by handleing wild hogs

       3) what all can we do to help prevent getting the virus ( besides stop hunting, because that aint gonna happen    )

I just figured id ask all of yall to se what yall think about it.... cuz its all over the news

Any info would be greatly apperciated

[shawn]

well i was joking and asked should we wear contamination suits and a oxygen mask on another thread, (no one answered me) lol

I don't know man, all kidding aside, there is no way I'm gonna take a break from hunting unless this outbreak turns into a problem for real.

I am thinking of bringing hand sanitizer and cleaning my hands really good after handling a hog, yeah i should be doing it anyway, but the hogs didnt have the flu before...lol

[HogzgoneWild]

I havn't checked into it either, but heard that it actually isn't contracted from pigs, thats just the name of the virus, guess they are runnin out of names!

[TexasHogDogs]

I got a feeling if this gets any worse we are liable to all be in trouble as far as hog hunting goes.





Swine Flu Update - Monday, April 27, 4:30pm:

The World Health Organization’s Emergency Committee met today and recommended that the level of influenza pandemic alert be raised from a phase 3 to a phase 4. This indicates that the likelihood of a pandemic has increased, not that one is certain. Epidemiological data about the human-to-human transmission and the ability of this specific virus to cause community-level outbreaks led to the decision. The WHO is not recommending the closing of borders or the limiting of international travel at this time.

Visit the World Health Organization’s website for more information on a phase 4 pandemic alert.

Here’s what you need to know about swine flu:

Why is Swine Flu in The News?
The number of fatalities in Mexico coupled with reported cases in the US, Canada and New Zealand brought the outbreak to the attention of health officials and the media. Also of concern is the fact that the strain in Mexico is attacking healthy young people, a trait usually associated with pandemic flu bugs.

What is Swine Flu?
Swine flu is just what it sounds like…a strain of flu that effects pigs and usually remains just that. Sometimes a strain of swine flu will mutate and is contracted by humans. This strain appears to be a mixture of swine, avian and human viruses and mutated viruses concern health officials due to their resistance to existing vaccines. A high fever, consistent cough, sore throat and possibly vomiting and diarrhea are the most common symptoms of swine flu, but those symptoms can be caused by countless other conditions as well. If you or someone you’ve been in close contact with has recently returned from Mexico and your flu-like symptoms persist, contact your doctor. Only a lab test can identify swine flu.

No vaccine for swine flu exists currently, but the Center for Disease Control has begun the steps needed to create one, in case that becomes necessary. This season’s flu shot does not offer protection to this virus.

What is the Government Doing?
Since this is a quickly developing outbreak and there are still many unknowns, the White House has likened their efforts to preparing for a hurricane. "Really that's what we're doing right now. We're preparing in an environment where we really don't know ultimately what the size or seriousness of this outbreak is going to be," Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told reporters. The act of declaring this a public health emergency clears the way for shipping roughly 12 million doses of flu-fighting medications from a federal stockpile to states that may need them. The Center for Disease Control says that isn’t currently needed, as the cases in the US are less severe than those in Mexico.

While the government is taking the right precautions, it’s important to point out that this is not a global pandemic — at least not yet. The true number of cases, why the Mexican cases are more severe and how easily the virus spreads are sill unanswered.

Can Swine Flu be Treated?
Yes. This specific strain can be treated with Tamiflu and Relenza.

How to Protect Yourself
The most common question on everyone’s mind is “how can I protect myself?” The good news is that common health tips that help stop the spread of seasonal flu can be effective with preventing swine flu as well. The following are recommended steps from the CDC:


Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective.
Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread this way.
Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
If you get sick with influenza, CDC recommends that you stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them. What is the best way to keep from spreading the virus through coughing or sneezing?
At this point, the best advice is to take the right precautions and to not panic. The CDC will be issuing statements and advice as more information is known. Follow the developments on Healthline.com and other major news outlets


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We are in phase of pandemic alert 4.


In the 2009 revision of the phase descriptions, WHO has retained the use of a six-phased approach for easy incorporation of new recommendations and approaches into existing national preparedness and response plans. The grouping and description of pandemic phases have been revised to make them easier to understand, more precise, and based upon observable phenomena. Phases 1–3 correlate with preparedness, including capacity development and response planning activities, while Phases 4–6 clearly signal the need for response and mitigation efforts. Furthermore, periods after the first pandemic wave are elaborated to facilitate post pandemic recovery activities.

The current WHO phase of pandemic alert is 4.

In nature, influenza viruses circulate continuously among animals, especially birds. Even though such viruses might theoretically develop into pandemic viruses, in Phase 1 no viruses circulating among animals have been reported to cause infections in humans.

In Phase 2 an animal influenza virus circulating among domesticated or wild animals is known to have caused infection in humans, and is therefore considered a potential pandemic threat.

In Phase 3, an animal or human-animal influenza reassortant virus has caused sporadic cases or small clusters of disease in people, but has not resulted in human-to-human transmission sufficient to sustain community-level outbreaks. Limited human-to-human transmission may occur under some circumstances, for example, when there is close contact between an infected person and an unprotected caregiver. However, limited transmission under such restricted circumstances does not indicate that the virus has gained the level of transmissibility among humans necessary to cause a pandemic.

Phase 4 is characterized by verified human-to-human transmission of an animal or human-animal influenza reassortant virus able to cause “community-level outbreaks.” The ability to cause sustained disease outbreaks in a community marks a significant upwards shift in the risk for a pandemic. Any country that suspects or has verified such an event should urgently consult with WHO so that the situation can be jointly assessed and a decision made by the affected country if implementation of a rapid pandemic containment operation is warranted. Phase 4 indicates a significant increase in risk of a pandemic but does not necessarily mean that a pandemic is a forgone conclusion.

Phase 5 is characterized by human-to-human spread of the virus into at least two countries in one WHO region. While most countries will not be affected at this stage, the declaration of Phase 5 is a strong signal that a pandemic is imminent and that the time to finalize the organization, communication, and implementation of the planned mitigation measures is short.

Phase 6, the pandemic phase, is characterized by community level outbreaks in at least one other country in a different WHO region in addition to the criteria defined in Phase 5. Designation of this phase will indicate that a global pandemic is under way.

During the post-peak period, pandemic disease levels in most countries with adequate surveillance will have dropped below peak observed levels. The post-peak period signifies that pandemic activity appears to be decreasing; however, it is uncertain if additional waves will occur and countries will need to be prepared for a second wave.

Previous pandemics have been characterized by waves of activity spread over months. Once the level of disease activity drops, a critical communications task will be to balance this information with the possibility of another wave. Pandemic waves can be separated by months and an immediate “at-ease” signal may be premature.

In the post-pandemic period, influenza disease activity will have returned to levels normally seen for seasonal influenza. It is expected that the pandemic virus will behave as a seasonal influenza A virus. At this stage, it is important to maintain surveillance and update pandemic preparedness and response plans accordingly. An intensive phase of recovery and evaluation may be required.

[TexasHogDogs]

Some more



Key Facts about Swine Influenza (Swine Flu)

What is Swine Influenza?
Swine Influenza (swine flu) is a respiratory disease of pigs caused by type A influenza virus that regularly causes outbreaks of influenza in pigs. Swine flu viruses cause high levels of illness and low death rates in pigs. Swine influenza viruses may circulate among swine throughout the year, but most outbreaks occur during the late fall and winter months similar to outbreaks in humans. The classical swine flu virus (an influenza type A H1N1 virus) was first isolated from a pig in 1930.

How many swine flu viruses are there?
Like all influenza viruses, swine flu viruses change constantly. Pigs can be infected by avian influenza and human influenza viruses as well as swine influenza viruses. When influenza viruses from different species infect pigs, the viruses can reassort (i.e. swap genes) and new viruses that are a mix of swine, human and/or avian influenza viruses can emerge. Over the years, different variations of swine flu viruses have emerged. At this time, there are four main influenza type A virus subtypes that have been isolated in pigs: H1N1, H1N2, H3N2, and H3N1. However, most of the recently isolated influenza viruses from pigs have been H1N1 viruses.

Swine Flu in Humans
Can humans catch swine flu?
Swine flu viruses do not normally infect humans. However, sporadic human infections with swine flu have occurred. Most commonly, these cases occur in persons with direct exposure to pigs (e.g. children near pigs at a fair or workers in the swine industry). In addition, there have been documented cases of one person spreading swine flu to others. For example, an outbreak of apparent swine flu infection in pigs in Wisconsin in 1988 resulted in multiple human infections, and, although no community outbreak resulted, there was antibody evidence of virus transmission from the patient to health care workers who had close contact with the patient.

How common is swine flu infection in humans?
In the past, CDC received reports of approximately one human swine influenza virus infection every one to two years in the U.S., but from December 2005 through February 2009, 12 cases of human infection with swine influenza have been reported.
What are the symptoms of swine flu in humans?
The symptoms of swine flu in people are expected to be similar to the symptoms of regular human seasonal influenza and include fever, lethargy, lack of appetite and coughing. Some people with swine flu also have reported runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

Can people catch swine flu from eating pork?
No. Swine influenza viruses are not transmitted by food. You can not get swine influenza from eating pork or pork products. Eating properly handled and cooked pork and pork products is safe. Cooking pork to an internal temperature of 160°F kills the swine flu virus as it does other bacteria and viruses.

How does swine flu spread?
Influenza viruses can be directly transmitted from pigs to people and from people to pigs. Human infection with flu viruses from pigs are most likely to occur when people are in close proximity to infected pigs, such as in pig barns and livestock exhibits housing pigs at fairs. Human-to-human transmission of swine flu can also occur. This is thought to occur in the same way as seasonal flu occurs in people, which is mainly person-to-person transmission through coughing or sneezing of people infected with the influenza virus. People may become infected by touching something with flu viruses on it and then touching their mouth or nose.

What do we know about human-to-human spread of swine flu?
In September 1988, a previously healthy 32-year-old pregnant woman was hospitalized for pneumonia and died 8 days later. A swine H1N1 flu virus was detected. Four days before getting sick, the patient visited a county fair swine exhibition where there was widespread influenza-like illness among the swine.

In follow-up studies, 76% of swine exhibitors tested had antibody evidence of swine flu infection but no serious illnesses were detected among this group. Additional studies suggest that one to three health care personnel who had contact with the patient developed mild influenza-like illnesses with antibody evidence of swine flu infection.

How can human infections with swine influenza be diagnosed?
To diagnose swine influenza A infection, a respiratory specimen would generally need to be collected within the first 4 to 5 days of illness (when an infected person is most likely to be shedding virus). However, some persons, especially children, may shed virus for 10 days or longer. Identification as a swine flu influenza A virus requires sending the specimen to CDC for laboratory testing.
What medications are available to treat swine flu infections in humans?
There are four different antiviral drugs that are licensed for use in the US for the treatment of influenza: amantadine, rimantadine, oseltamivir and zanamivir. While most swine influenza viruses have been susceptible to all four drugs, the most recent swine influenza viruses isolated from humans are resistant to amantadine and rimantadine. At this time, CDC recommends the use of oseltamivir or zanamivir for the treatment and/or prevention of infection with swine influenza viruses.

What other examples of swine flu outbreaks are there?
Probably the most well known is an outbreak of swine flu among soldiers in Fort Dix, New Jersey in 1976. The virus caused disease with x-ray evidence of pneumonia in at least 4 soldiers and 1 death; all of these patients had previously been healthy. The virus was transmitted to close contacts in a basic training environment, with limited transmission outside the basic training group. The virus is thought to have circulated for a month and disappeared. The source of the virus, the exact time of its introduction into Fort Dix, and factors limiting its spread and duration are unknown. The Fort Dix outbreak may have been caused by introduction of an animal virus into a stressed human population in close contact in crowded facilities during the winter. The swine influenza A virus collected from a Fort Dix soldier was named A/New Jersey/76 (Hsw1N1).

Is the H1N1 swine flu virus the same as human H1N1 viruses?
No. The H1N1 swine flu viruses are antigenically very different from human H1N1 viruses and, therefore, vaccines for human seasonal flu would not provide protection from H1N1 swine flu viruses.
Swine Flu in Pigs
How does swine flu spread among pigs?
Swine flu viruses are thought to be spread mostly through close contact among pigs and possibly from contaminated objects moving between infected and uninfected pigs. Herds with continuous swine flu infections and herds that are vaccinated against swine flu may have sporadic disease, or may show only mild or no symptoms of infection.

What are signs of swine flu in pigs?
Signs of swine flu in pigs can include sudden onset of fever, depression, coughing (barking), discharge from the nose or eyes, sneezing, breathing difficulties, eye redness or inflammation, and going off feed.

How common is swine flu among pigs?
H1N1 and H3N2 swine flu viruses are endemic among pig populations in the United States and something that the industry deals with routinely. Outbreaks among pigs normally occur in colder weather months (late fall and winter) and sometimes with the introduction of new pigs into susceptible herds. Studies have shown that the swine flu H1N1 is common throughout pig populations worldwide, with 25 percent of animals showing antibody evidence of infection. In the U.S. studies have shown that 30 percent of the pig population has antibody evidence of having had H1N1 infection. More specifically, 51 percent of pigs in the north-central U.S. have been shown to have antibody evidence of infection with swine H1N1. Human infections with swine flu H1N1 viruses are rare. There is currently no way to differentiate antibody produced in response to flu vaccination in pigs from antibody made in response to pig infections with swine H1N1 influenza.

While H1N1 swine viruses have been known to circulate among pig populations since at least 1930, H3N2 influenza viruses did not begin circulating among US pigs until 1998. The H3N2 viruses initially were introduced into the pig population from humans. The current swine flu H3N2 viruses are closely related to human H3N2 viruses.

Is there a vaccine for swine flu?
Vaccines are available to be given to pigs to prevent swine influenza. There is no vaccine to protect humans from swine flu. The seasonal influenza vaccine will likely help provide partial protection against swine H3N2, but not swine H1N1 viruses.

[BMichalak]

thanks for the info guys! but just like shawn said, i aint gonna take a break form hunting UNLESS it gets to be a really serious problem!!!!!!   

[cantexduck]

y2k,ban on all guns,bird flu. Just something for the media to scare people with.

[shawn]

thats kind of what i thought, the media blowing something way out of proportion

[hoghunterswife]

on the news this morning they were saying that this is a combination of the bird flu swine flu and human flu. i dont understand how it could be all three but they called it a super bug.

[bucknduck9]

i dont know about the swine flu but i think i have the hog fever and there is no cure for that but it helps if you stay in the woods after them lol but i think yall are right i think its just a way to scare the public again just like the bird flu and mad cow those didnt stop me and this wont stop me either

[Dexter]

i am thinking its a bio terroist  named obama bin ladin or another  radical islamic group  what better way to distibute a virus in the USA
than by the wide spread migration of  mexicans across the  our great nation,
 think about the masses of mexicans that only travel back to mexico on the 2 main holidays
   that christians  attend and thats Christmas and Easter..
 i wonder how many of the infected went to the same church in mexico city
 
just a thought and whats bad it could really happen most viruses have a incubation period of 14-21 days
and by the time its discovered its to late
       Dexter

[younghogdogger.]

well i dont really know to much about it but they just canceled all the baseball, softball games, and track meets around here for this week. they said because they dont want it to keep spreading or something.

[HogzgoneWild]

Guys I've been lookin into this and takin sessions on it being that I work for a school district and....... this is indeed a superbug that the media has takin to the extremes..its derived from the original swine flu(a respitory virus found in pigs) the bird flu, and the human flu...its contracted from bein coughed on or coming in direct contact with an infected person.. We don't get it from pigs or eatin pork, we get it from people! So HAPPY HUNTIN!!!!!!!!!

[jdt]

i geuss that means you give me perrmission to get awy from everybody i know and go to the woods huh  lol

[shawn]

exactly,  stay away from people, stay in the woods with your dogs, its the ONLY SAFE WAY