If pigs belonged to a shadowy brotherhood, they’d be laughing their trotters off right now. We live in very interesting times with marvels in science and technology happening every day. And now you can add to that list a never-before-seen mixture of viruses from swine, birds, and humans.
Swine flu is a respiratory disease, caused by influenza type A which typically infects pigs. It hasn’t normally infected humans, but the latest form can spread from person to person, and with that the potential to spark a global pandemic.
The new strain has killed up to 149 people in Mexico, infected 50 in the United States, six in Canada, two each in Spain and Scotland, with New Zealand and Israel confirming cases of swine flu today. As a result the World Health Organization has raised its alert level to phase 4, indicating the virus is becoming increasingly adept at spreading among humans. Phase 6 is the highest alert level where the virus spreads to another country in a different region and the global pandemic is under way.
Keep up-to-date with Reuters’ global coverage of the swine flu.