Swine Flu could be the next major disease epidemic. It appears to have emerged in Mexico has killed more than 100 people and infected more 1000 who have recovered. Cases and suspected cases have now been identified in the USA, New Zealand, France, Scotland, Israel, Spain, and elsewhere.
How many people have died from swine flu?
In the current outbreak of swine flu, just 20 deaths of 103 suspected fatal cases have actually been confirmed as having been caused by the new virus. That’s a lethality rate of just over 1%. Spanish Flu in 1918 had a lethality rate of 2.5%.
How many people infected?
Cases in Mexico number around 1600, according to Mexican Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova.
Is this swine flu the same strain of flu that killed millions in 1918, the so-called Spanish flu?
No. The present strain is a type A influenza virus of class H1N1, certainly, but it is a different sub-species. Influenza viruses evolve very rapidly in response to changes in the immune systems of their hosts.
What does H1N1 mean?
The “H” refers to the viral hemagglutinin protein, and the “N” refers to the neuraminidase protein (enzyme). There are H1N2, H3N1, H3N2, and H2N3 strains of swine flu endemic in pig populations.
Whatever happened to bird flu?
Strains of avian influenza, or bird flu, are still around, these viruses exist in host species in Asia and potentially elsewhere and could still make the leap to humans at any time.
Why pigs?
Influenza viruses can exist endemically in pigs as well as birds and other species. The current strain of interest, swine flu, is endemic in pig populations in Mexico but has now spread to people.
Didn’t we have swine flu before?
Swine flu has been present for years and commonly infects people who work with pigs. An outbreak at the Fort Dix army base killed and hospitalized soldiers there and led to an ill-fated mass-vaccination campaign under President Ford. An outbreak of swine flu happened in the Philipines in 2007.
Was the new swine flu genetically engineered as a bioweapon?
It is perhaps possible to engineer a virus, but the precursors to this present strain of influenza has been seen in the wild for years and so it would seem highly unlikely that it was synthesised. Is there a lab that could synthesise a whole new viable viral species from combined segments of human, bird, and pig influenza viruses?
But how did porcine, avian, and human viruses get mixed together?
These flu viruses have a segmented genome containing eight pieces of RNA. If two strains infect a single cell their progeny undergo reassortment so that new strains emerge. Pigs are a particularly good biological mixing bowl for flu viruses, it takes just one lucky reassortment that can infect humans to then make the species leap. This has happened several times in the past.
What is WHO doing about the outbreak?
The World Health Organisation will meet in Geneva on Tuesday (April 28) to discuss whether to raise the pandemic alert level.
I wandered around and picked out the one stall that seemed to have a lot of stock on offer. Right beside the retail area, the stall had several workers who were processing newly arrived dried fish. Apparently, one has to take a small brush (like a nail brush) and brush off the mold or unsightly salt remnants from each piece of dried fish! Talk about labor intensive! The dried fish are then stacked on baskets and can be packaged up in plastic and heat sealed if you so desire. At PHP70-480 per kilo depending on type of fish, a large stall must have at least PHP50,000 - 100,000 worth of dried fish inventory! Max was the proprietor of the stall I settled on transacting with. Shy guy this Max, as it took some convincing to get him in a photo of the stall. He was amiable enough, didn’t give much discount, but his stuff looked top notch and now that I have returned home, tastes terrific!
what tagalogs refer to simply as tuyo (which can be lots of different fish but I like the bony ones). The boneless danggit of Max were superb. Large or small, the bones had been extracted and the stuff fried up nice and crisp. At PHP420 a kilo, it sounds like a lot but that must have been at least 5 kilos of live wait danggit to make a kilo of boneless dried fish. I can sit happily at breakfast with several fried buwad na danggit, a sawsawan (dip) of spicy vinegar, a large plate of steaming rice and a fried egg or two mixed in. This is the ultimate comfort food and there is nothing anywhere in the world that comes close to it. Whereas for tinapa, I can substitute kippers elsewhere on the planet. 
Either fried or barbecued, it possesses a unique taste that must be acquired early in life. I much prefer danggit or tuyo but once in a while it’s nice to have some dried squid. Also good with vinegar and chillis. I bought several other kinds of buwad and managed to fill a medium sized box with over 5 kilos of the stuff. That should easily last our household a month or more. While I love the taste of buwad or daing, I do not like the lingering smell after it has been fried up in the kitchen… anyone have any ideas how to rid the kitchen/house of the pungent odor besides boiling up a pot of vinegared water???