A child in Kansas, USA was found to have a swine flu virus strain called H3N2, also found in pigs but different from the current pandemic H1N1 virus.
The child is believed to have contracted the H3N2 flu strain, for which there is no vaccine, through direct contact with pigs. This year so far, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recorded 14 cases of non-H1N1 swine flu cases in humans.
In particular, people who work on pig farms are many times more likely to contract the swine flu.
A fluke combination of such swine flu viruses with human or bird viruses could occur at any time within one pig, who could infect nearby farm workers, who then in turn could spread the contagion to the wider community.
The current H1N1 swine flu virus now circulating is indeed a recombined strain from pigs, birds, and humans, so new that people are not immune.
There have now been 206,987 officially detected H1N1 swine flu cases across 168 countries and territories.
Of these, 1,673 resulted in death. The steadily climbing figures are just a tiny sample of the actual global incidence. Announcing the country’s first fatality on Friday, Irish authorities stated that 70 percent of those infected are under age 30, and there are 1,800 new confirmed cases per week.
Palestine also suffered its first swine flu loss of a 34-year-old man returning from the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. Ghana confirmed her first-ever case, and Indonesia reported 29 new cases, bringing the total to close to 700. Israel announced her fifth loss of life, and Singapore now has a total of 8 perished residents. On Friday, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak announced swine flu is a serious threat to the nation, with 1,578 who have been sickened with 18 fatalities. In the US, Florida state health authorities announced swine flu deaths have doubled in the past two weeks to 41, as nationwide fatalities just surpassed 435.
We are truly saddened to learn of these updates in many countries, and send our thoughts and prayers to the afflicted and their families. May we avoid present and future viral transfers by ceasing the practices that create such squalid and cruel conditions for animals and instead adopt the health-preserving organic vegan diet.
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