Swine Flu

There is a lot of hype in the last few days of the Influenza Virus Strand called Swine Flu. To answer any questions anyone may have- I just wanted to put out a informational blog with facts about the virus. The most common questions I have had are about how you catch the swine flu and is it more harmful than a typical flu. I hope this helps to answer any questions you may have.

Note: To ensure that the facts are correct, the following facts were all taken from the Center of Disease Control http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/key_facts.htm

Swine Flu (now being called H1N1 as this is the particular strand of the influenza virus)

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.

Can humans catch swine flu? Swine flu viruses do not normally infect humans. Most people will not have immunity to this new virus. 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 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 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.


U.S. Human Cases of Swine Flu Infection(As of April 29, 2009, 11:00 AM ET)
States
# of laboratory confirmed cases
Arizona- 1

California- 14

Indiana-1

Kansas-2

Massachusetts-2

Michigan-2

Nevada-1

New York City-51

Ohio-1

Texas- 16

TOTAL COUNTS
91 cases
1 death
International Human Cases of Swine Flu InfectionSee: World Health Organization

You make your own decision.........

This post was written by Gary Brown, director of the NCAA News.

OK all of you casual golfers out there. Say you had access to a new-tech driver that helped you regularly launch 300-yarders down the middle of the fairway. You'd bite, wouldn't you? Even if it cost you $300 or so - that's just a dollar a yard, with a return on investment of being the best in your foursome.

You're happy, and so is the guy who made the club. Except your buddies aren't - that is, until they buy one, too, and then we're back to square one until the next advancement comes along.
Well, something similar is happening in college swimming, where this weekend's Division I Men's Swimming and Diving Championships will feature the reduced-drag, full-body techno-suits that have been taking the sport by storm. They've already been prominent at the Divisions II and III championships and the Division I women's nationals over the past two weeks, and we've seen NCAA records fall in about two-thirds of the events. So what's the problem? Nothing, if you like fast swimming. But the times are so much faster that people are raising eyebrows. Coaches don't seem to like the new suits, and they're starting to wonder aloud if the revolutionary buoyant material is having too much of an effect on the sport. One coach said, "The suits make moderate swimmers fast and fast swimmers really fast."

But student-athletes don't seem bothered - they just want to go fast. One of them at the Division II women's meet who was put off by the notion that the suits were overshadowing natural talent said, "If you put the suits in the water, they're not going to swim by themselves."
What's the right balance? Everyone wants to perform better in their respective sport, and when it comes to equipment, people usually will invest in whatever they can to help that performance along. It's not cheating, for goodness sake, is it?

But it's causing issues. For one, there's an arms race going on that is expensive at a time when athletics departments can't afford it. Yet administrators and coaches are caught in the middle - they want their athletes to be able to compete, and they know they can't at the elite level without the suits. So they have to acquire them one way or another - and if the department can't bear the cost, then the student-athletes will. After all, if you've invested most of your life competing in the sport you love, you'd most likely spend the extra dough to get what you need, wouldn't you?

And the records keep falling. Mark Gole, the head men's and women's coach at Truman State University, pointed out that Alexander Popov used to be the world record holder in the 100-meter free, and just a little more than a year with the new suits, Popov is barely in the top 50. Too much for you?

OK, now you play the role of NCAA swimming committee member. What's your pleasure? You want to try to regulate these things amid antitrust laws? You want to get in the business of testing suits and setting standards based on exhaustive research? Or do you want to maintain the environment of "anything goes," figuring that the sport benefits from the publicity of world records?

Who knows? At least with everyone wearing them, it's a level swimming pool.By the way, I'm wearing one right now, and even though I used to be a 100-words-per-minute typist, I banged this post out in an NCAA national-office-record 1:22.05. I like it!