This article by Donald G. McNeil Jr. called, "First Death is Reported from New Pig Flu Strain" is an article that I found on The New York Times website. The article stresses the concern that people have about the new Pig Flu outbreak, and talks about a woman who was recently effected by the disease and actually died from it. To read the whole article visit,
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/01/health/first-death-is-reported-from-new-pig-flu-strain.html?ref=epidemics
A sixty-one year old woman died from the Pig Flu, and fourteen people have been hospitalized over the summer in Ohio. The sixty-one year old woman came into contact with the pigs at the Ross County Fair. It was also known that the woman had other health problems that could have possibly attributed to the disease.The Centers of Disease Control has reassured the people that there was minimal "person on person" contact, decreasing the spread of this disease.They also confirmed that all known cases had been caused due to people being in direct contact with pigs.
The proper name for this Pig Flu is H3N2v. It can be treated with common medicine that people would use for the common flu.
The disease was discovered in 1990 when common external genes were passed from humans to pigs. Along with the human gene, a gene from the H1N1 flu spread and was very infectious.
Out of 289 cases, 90 percent of families that deal with pigs, lead the agency's flu division to prevent the spread of this disease.
The Pig Flu was primarily discovered in 2010 in pigs and the first time they found it in humans was over a year later. The H3N2v is most likely found in parts of Ohio and Indiana, but cases have been found in Maine and Hawaii as well.
The first thing I found very intriguing about this article was about how different the places where the pig flu is common are. Ohio and Indiana are somewhat close, but Maine and Hawaii are about as far apart as you can get! I am not sure as to why this is. I also wonder about what kind of contact these people must have with pigs to get the disease. Why would people be so nervous about contracting the pig flu when the only known cases of this disease are from person to pig contact? I have never been in contact with a pig, so I feel like I would not have to worry. Even though the chances are slim, I still get worried since it was epidemic in 2010
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about those locations, Kaila. Also, Ohio and Indiana are somewhat rural in much of the states, so why aren't farming states such as Kansas and Mississippi experiencing as much of this disease. I would like to know how these strains are named such as H1N1 and H3N2v.
ReplyDeleteIt's very reasuring that this can be treated with simple common flu medicine, which is very accessable. A catchy title for this post would make it more ineresting. What threw me off was when you stated that the disease was discovered in 1990 when common external genes were passed between humans and pigs. Then it says that it was primarily discovered in pigs in 2010.
Some people think that they are completely safe from diseases because science is advanced and medicine is adundant. I think it's good to have headlines like this in the news to keep people aware of their health and the fact that epidemics are still prominant.
Morgan, this was a very informative and interesting article you choose. The first thing that interested me was how you can pick up the flu from a pig. Im not sure what kind of contact you would need to have with it. I think its also good to know that if you do catch it we have vaccinations and antibitoics that can easily cure the common flu. Its also interesting how diverse the locations are that people are catching this.It seems to be appearing randomly.
ReplyDeleteThis article was very interesting; it proves that diseases have many hosts and can mutate themselves to live in other organisms. It is tragic that several people have died from this even though it can be treated with common medicine. This Pig Flu outbreak reminds me of last year's H1N1 outbreak, which caused a lot of controversy over public health care in regards to obtaining enough vaccine for the public. This article also relates to our past unit on smallpox. It reminded me of Edward Jenner's motives for creating a smallpox vaccine. He had noticed that the cow maids were immune to smallpox because they had already been in contact with, and survived, cow pox. I think it is very important to understand that a disease can live in several different organisms. It reminds us how important medical research is, as we never know when the next unfamiliar outbreak will occur. Studying these diseases in other organisms will only strengthen our knowledge of disease and give hope for stability.
ReplyDeleteThis write up was very interesting and informative. I never would have thought that something like the Pig Flu existed or was different from the Swine Flu. It surprises me that the woman who died from this disease came in contact with a pig at a fair and did not raise pigs like most of the other people who had been infected with the disease. I think that it makes perfect sense for the Pig Flu to exist in fairly rural states like Indiana and Ohio too. This is definitely something I would have never known was different from the Swine Flu.
ReplyDeleteThis article attracted my attention right away because i have never heard of a pig flu! Also I have never heard of people dieing from it either. I think that where people got the disease was very interesting. I love pigs and think they are great animals it is very interesting that a women got the pig flu just from being at a fair. There was great info and it was very interesting!
ReplyDeleteI too found this article to be very interesting and informative. It’s not every day you hear of a person who caught the flu from a pig! Like Amanda said it was very surprising that the woman caught the flu just from being at a local fair. This simply proves that bacteria and viruses are all around us, you don’t have to travel far to become infected.
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