What are the implications for human health?
Outbreaks and sporadic human infection with swine influenza have been occasionally reported. Generally clinical symptoms are similar to seasonal influenza but reported clinical presentation ranges broadly from asymptomatic infection to severe pneumonia resulting in death.Since typical clinical presentation of swine influenza infection in humans resembles seasonal influenza and other acute upper respiratory tract infections, most of the cases
have been detected by chance through seasonal influenza surveillance. Mild or asymptomatic cases may have escaped from recognition; therefore the true extent of this disease among humans is unknown.

Where have human cases occurred?
Since the implementation of IHR (2005)’ in 2007, WHO has been notified of swine influenza cases from the United States and Spain.

How do people become infected?
People usually get swine influenza from infected pigs, however, some human cases lack contact history with pigs or environments where pigs have been located. Human-to human transmission has occurred in some instances but was limited to close contacts and closed groups of people.

What are the symptoms?
Limited information is available at this stage. It appears that the early symptoms are similar to seasonal flu – cough, fever, sore throat, headache, runny nose, general fatigue, and muscle pains. Some patients have also had vomiting and diarrhea. Severe cases have progressed quickly (within 5 days) to a pneumonia-like illness, which involves shortness of breath and difficulty breathing

What is the infectious period?

The infectious period for this strain is not yet known. According to the US CDC, infected people should be considered potentially contagious:

• one day before their symptoms start
• seven days after their symptoms start OR as long as they are still showing symptoms (whichever is longer) Children, especially younger children, might potentially be contagious for longer periods.

What is the incubation period?
The “incubation period” is the time between when a person was exposed to the virus and when they start having symptoms. The incubation period for this strain is not yet known.With seasonal flu, people develop symptoms within about 4 days of infection. However, for this new strain of flu, the incubation period may be longer. US CDC is currently advising people to monitor their health for 7 days after possible exposure.

Is it safe to eat pork and pork products?
Yes. Swine influenza has not been shown to be transmissible to people through eating properly handled and prepared pork (pig meat) or other products derived from pigs. The swine influenza virus is killed by cooking temperatures of 160 F/70 C, corresponding to the general guidance for the preparation of pork and other meat.

Which countries have been affected by outbreaks in pigs?
Swine influenza is not notifiable to international animal health authorities (OlE, www.oie.int), therefore its international distribution in animals is not well known. The disease is considered endemic in the United States. Outbreaks in pigs are also known to have occurred in North America, South America, Europe (including the UK, Sweden, and Italy), Africa (Kenya), and in parts of eastern Asia including China and Japan.

Reference Resources for more information:

• World Health Organization         -    http://www.who.int
• UK Health Protection Agency        -    http://hpa.org.uk
• Department of Health, UK        -    http://www.dh.gov.uk
• Centers for Disease Control & Prevention    -    http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/general_info.htm