The Center for Disease Control has confirmed cases of swine flu in San Diego, California, and San Antonio, Texas. They will update their case list at 3:00 p.m. today.
Here are some important facts about swine flu:
This influenza virus is spread from person to person by respiratory droplet, the same way other respiratory viruses spread. People can also spread the infection to pigs and vice versa. You cannot get the virus from eating pork.
The symptoms of swine flu in people include fever, fatigue, cough, runny nose and sometimes vomiting and diarhhea. The CDC reports that pigs with swine flu appear depressed (don’t ask me) and cough (sounds like barking).
There is no human vaccine for swine flu.
If you have swine flu symptoms, it is important to avoid contact with other people and see your doctor. The current strain is responding to two antiviral drugs, so if you see your doctor within the first five days, you can get tested and potentially treated. That window is ten days for children. At this point the virus is striking mainly adults.
Bottom line for North Carolinians this weekend: Make a trip to the store for some hand sanitizer and be wary of close contact with people who say they have “a cold,” especially if they are just back from Texas or California. It’s safe to go to Allen and Sons Barbecue for pork this weekend. As for the Piedmont Farm Tour, it’s probably more likely that a visitor would infect a pig than a pig would infect a visitor. Nonetheless, steer clear of sad, barking pigs.
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Since the time that I wrote the blog, the virus has impacted a younger population in the United States.
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