A Brief Review on Swine Flu

Swine influenza is caused by those strains of influenza virus that usually infect pigs and are called swine influenza virus (SIV). Swine influenza is known to be caused by influenza A subtypes H1N1, H1N2, H3N1, H3N2, and H2N3. The main route of transmission is through direct contact between infected and uninfected animals. Airborne transmission through the aerosols produced by pigs coughing or sneezing is also an important means of infection. In pigs influenza infection produces fever, lethargy, sneezing, coughing, difficulty breathing and decreased appetite and in human include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. Risk factors that may contribute to swine-to-human transmission include smoking and not wearing gloves when working with sick animals. The principal method of treatment is vaccination and proper animal management techniques. The modern pork industry also uses antibiotic, which although they have no effect against the influenza virus, do help prevent bacterial pneumonia and other secondary infections in influenzaweakened herds. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the use of Tamiflu (oseltamivir) or Relenza (zanamivir) in human. Vaccines and antivirals will be crucial to the effort, but tracking and communications technologies could also play a key role in monitoring the virus, distributing accurate health information, and quelling outbreaks. Meanwhile, other Internet tools are helping to track the spread of the virus geographically.