swine influenza

SWINE INFLUENZA; WHO IS TO BLAME.

It is amazing how human beings seek to blame someone or something during a time of crises. The resurface of swine influenza (H1N1) has led humans to blame the entire pig species or Mexico.
Humans know that we live in a globalize world filled with shared microbial threat that arise in one place and transferred to another place through human activities and movement. Therefore if there is any blame to be given out, it must be directed to humans in the ways we are reshaping our ecology. We offer germs like this influenza virus good opportunities to evolve and spread around.
It has been discovered that the H1N1virus has pieces of human flu and an unknown avian-flu. This implies that humans and birds are passing on their H1N1to pigs causing widespread illness in swine herds. According to researchers pigs are being infected with this influenza by farm poultry, wild birds and their human handlers. Pigs do eat anything given to them and rub up against each other frequently, spreading the virus within herds. Their stomachs are tolerant environs for microbes which have caused illness in humans who dined on raw or undercooked pork.
The 1918 influenza pandemic was revealed to be a type of H1N1 human flu which had infected pigs and circulated back to humans. If the virus is reproducing inside the human cell it picks up human genetic material. If the virus is reproducing inside the chicken cell it picks up avian genes and if the virus is reproducing inside the pig cell it picks the swine RNA. Therefore, the influenza occurs when two different types of viruses happen to get into an animal cell at the same time.
Now the virus appears to be very contagious between people and possibly between swine and humans. It is fortunately treatable with antiviral drugs, Tamiflu and Relenza (oseltamivir and zanamivir). It is however resistant to the other major class of anti-flu drugs, amantadines. Some symptoms in humans are chills, fever, sore throat, muscle pain, severe headache, coughing, weakness and general discomfort.
The reshaping of the worlds ecology is really a threat. This ecology is helping to breed influenza in pigs and chickens. If we, humans, do not do something about it, this ecology will one day spring up a severe pandemic that will be bigger than that of the 1918, 2005 and 2009 pandemic.