Update: The State of the Outbreak

In our last post from Sunday, we gave an update on what was known about Swine Flu. Since then, there have been a few more developments;

Swine Flu Continues to Spread

Swine Flu / H1N1 is acting like other flu viruses and continues to infect more people. In the U.S., there are now 2,600 confirmed cases across 44 states and 3 confirmed deaths.[1] Around the world, there have been more than 4,694 cases across 30 countries[2] and it shows no signs of stopping it's growth. While it appears, H1N1 is not a particularly deadly form of flu, there are two main concerns at this point:

Will the virus mutate and become more deadly this fall/winter ?

As discussed in a previous post, it's current form does not seem to be very severe, H1N1 has the potential to mutate and become a real problem epidemic.

Why are the deaths disproportionally young ?

Another issue that continues to concern scientists is the fact that those dieing from H1N1 have tended to be young and the number is only skewing younger as time goes on.[3] Acting Director for the CDC, Dr. Richard Besser, said during a news conference that the severe cases of H1N1 were "younger than what you would see in seasonal flu. In seasonal flu you tend to see a predominance of burden of disease in the elderly and in the very young, and here we are seeing it more in the younger population... That is something that raises concern."

As this chart shows, this is a concern because this was the patterned followed by the devastating Spanish Flu. However, it's only something researchers are keeping their eye on and want to understand better. The sample size is still not very significant with relatively few deaths at this point.

[1] http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/
[2] http://www.who.int/en/
[3] http://www.ajc.com/health/content/shared-auto/healthnews/cdc-/626829.html

WHO says infected pork a concern

The World Health Organization said Wednesday that meat from pigs infected with H1N1 should not be eaten by humans and those animals should be kept out of the food supply. "Meat from sick pigs or pigs found dead should not be processed or used for human consumption under any circumstances," Jorgen Schlundt, director of WHO's Department of Food Safety, Zoonoses and Foodborne Diseases.

WHO clarified their stance, writing on their website, "Swine influenza has not been shown to be transmissible to people through eating properly handled and prepared pork (pig meat) or other products derived from pigs. The swine influenza virus
is killed by cooking temperatures of 160°F/70°C, corresponding to the general guidance for the preparation of pork and other meat."

Links:

WHO Swine Flu FAQ (.pdf)
CDC's Swine Flu Key Facts
Reuters WHO casts wary eye on meat...