swine flu

last night,Richard told me about the swine flu outbreak.
i was very shocked on how this virus affects many people in the United States especially childrens.it's origin is still unknown and they are now trying to make a vaccine for this disease.
i am not really familiar with this but since it's now spreading here in Asia specifically in Hongkong.
here is the link to that news.(http://ph.news.yahoo.com/ap/20090502/tap-as-hong-kong-swine-flu-d3b07b8_1.html)
i gathered some of the infos to have a better understanding of this disease.


when and where did it start?

The virus may have mutated into its current form months or even a year ago, and it happened, well, somewhere in the world.

The first symptoms started to show up in early March in the Mexican state of Veracruz, an area with a number of pig farms. The earliest confirmed case was a 5-year-old boy, one of hundreds of people in the town of La Gloria whose flu symptoms left them struggling to breathe.

People from La Gloria kept going to jobs in Mexico City despite their illnesses, and could have infected people there.

Still, there's no guarantee the virus came into existence in Veracruz. It spreads so easily, it could have made its way to Mexico from just about anywhere.

Some Mexican officials have offered some other suggestions of places where the virus may have begun, such as China, Pakistan or Bangladesh. But the fact is that the flu's origin remains a mystery.

Fortunately, it also doesn't really matter _ the outbreak has made its way around the world, and nothing can be done now at the point of origin to slow it down.


symptoms:





precautions:

Demand for hand-washing products and face mask.
not touching the mouth, nose or eyes, as these are primary modes of transmission. When coughing, they recommend coughing into a tissue and disposing of the tissue, then immediately washing the hands.
Several countries have banned pork imports.but they say that there is no risk of flu transmission from the consumption of properly-cooked pork products.
Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
f you get sick with influenza,you should stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.


so even there is still no reported cases here in our country it's better to be safe than to have this disease.