Personal Health

What is a Pandemic?

A pandemic is a global disease outbreak.

Flu pandemics occur when a new influenza virus emerges for which people have little or no immunity, and for which there is no vaccine. The disease spreads easily from person-to-person, causes serious illness, and can sweep around the world in very short time.

Wherever and whenever a pandemic starts, everyone around the world is at risk. Countries might, through measures such as border closures and travel restrictions, delay arrival of the virus, but cannot stop it.

Individuals can decrease their risk during a pandemic by:

Swine Flu

Swine influenza, or “swine flu”, is a highly contagious acute respiratory disease of pigs, caused by one of several swine influenza A viruses. Morbidity tends to be high and mortality low (1-4%). The virus is spread among pigs by aerosols, direct and indirect contact, and asymptomatic carrier pigs. Outbreaks in pigs occur year round, with an increased incidence in the fall and winter in temperate zones. Many countries routinely vaccinate swine populations against swine influenza.

Swine influenza viruses are most commonly of the H1N1 subtype, but other subtypes are also circulating in pigs (e.g., H1N2, H3N1, H3N2). Pigs can also be infected with avian influenza viruses and human seasonal influenza viruses as well as swine influenza viruses. The H3N2 swine virus was thought to have been originally introduced into pigs by humans. Sometimes pigs can be infected with more than one virus type at a time, which can allow the genes from these viruses to mix. This can result in an influenza virus containing genes from a number of sources, called a "reassortant" virus. Although swine influenza viruses are normally species specific and only infect pigs, they do sometimes cross the species barrier to cause disease in humans.

Symptoms

Symptoms of swine flu are similar to those of the regular flu, but symptoms can be more severe than the regular flu. They include:

Fever (usually high)
Headache
Extreme tiredness
Cough
Sore throat
Runny or stuffy nose
Muscle aches
Nausea, vomiting and diarrhea (more common among children than adults)

If you experience these symptoms:

You are advised to stay home, get plenty of rest, and check in with your primary health care provider as needed for further recommendations.
For students with no primary health care providers/insurance, you may contact Karen Pierson, Vice President for Student Services, at ext. 4003, for health care referrals.
If you must miss class due to illness, remember to contact your instructor(s) to let them know you will be absent.

See also: NIACCAlerts Emergency Text Messaging System

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