How 2009 Swine Flu Is Transmitted

How 2009 Swine Flu Is Transmitted

First of all it is absolutely not transmitted by eating pork, bacon, sausage or any pork meat product. Even if the pig was exposed to the new 2009 Swine Flu, cooking the meat would kill the virus. Some countries have reacted hysterically to the 2009 Swine Flu by slamming their borders shut against imported pork and pork products from countries where there have been cases of influenza found. There is no basis for the restriction.

As stated above the flu is an influenza virus and can't live long outside the host. Viruses can be transmitted in a number of ways. The HIV virus is spread by direct contact with bodily fluids. Small pox, a virus deadly in the past, is contracted through lengthy exposure to an infected person. The 2009 Swine Flu is spread through respiratory droplets.
Of the cases diagnosed so far none of them have been attributed to exposure to pigs.

To become infected with 2009 Swine Flu you must be standing within about 3 to 6 feet of an infected person. Just passing by someone on the street won't get you infected. The virus is carried through the air in respiratory droplets. The droplets are released through sneezing, coughing or just breathing. These droplets can land on a hard surface and live up to 24 hours or on a soft surface and live less than 30 minutes. The UV exposure of the surface and air temperatures affect how long the virus will live as well.

Even exposure to someone with swine flu doesn't mean you'll get sick. The human body has wonderful defenses. If only a few cells are infected the body produces and secretes something called interferons. These are proteins and are designated alpha, beta, or gamma interferon. These particular proteins interact with the cells adjacent to the infected cells to make them more resistant to viral infection. This natural defense often works to stop the virus dead in its tracks. The interferon does not kill the virus but makes the cells more resistant to the viral invasion. Later on, you may not even have known that you were infected at all.

Sometimes however the virus is stronger and spreads to more cells and you start feeling sick. At that point the immune system begins to fight by killing the viruses that are outside of the cells and the infected cells themselves.

Symptoms start 1 to 2 days after exposure and the person is the most infectious at that point. However the person can infect others before any symptoms show up.