Swine Influenza

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_swine_flu_outbreak

Current Event Reported on Wikipedia.org

The 2009 swine flu outbreak is the spread of a new strain of H1N1 influenzavirus that was first detected by public health agencies in March 2009. Local outbreaks of influenza-like illness were detected in three areas in Mexico, but the presence of this new strain was not discovered for a full month. Following this discovery, in the United States bordering Mexico, its presence was swiftly confirmed in the local outbreaks in Mexico, and in isolated cases elsewhere. By April 27, the new strain was confirmed also in Canada and Spain, and suspected in many other nations, with over 1,800 candidate cases.

The new strain is an apparent reassortment of several strains of influenza A virus subtype H1N1, including a strain endemic in humans and two strainsendemic in pigs, as well as an avian influenza.^[26] Reassortment is common ininfluenza viruses, due to the structure of their genome. This particular reassortment is consistent with a transmission of swine influenza from pig to human (a zoonosis) combined with the mixing of two viral infections in the same person (superinfection).^{[citation needed]}

In April both the WHO and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) expressed serious concerns about this novel strain, because it apparently transmits from human to human, has had a relatively high mortality rate in Mexico, and because it has the potential to become a flu pandemic.^[27]On April 25, 2009, the WHO determined the situation to be a formal "public health emergency of international concern", with knowledge lacking in regard to "the clinical features, epidemiology, and virology of reported cases and the appropriate responses".^[28] Government health agencies around the world also expressed concerns over the outbreak and are monitoring the situation closely.

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