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According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention, an estimated 4000 persons in the United States of America have died as a result of the H1N1 Swine Flu viruses since April 2009. According to reports, the Swine flu virus has sickened about 22 million Americans since April, and killed about 540 children.

Unfortunately for America also, the flu season has just started, and these numbers are expected to rise significantly given the long flu season ahead.

Additional details released by the CDC recently:

• 98,000 people have been hospitalized from this new flu or its complications, including 36,000 children, 53,000 adults younger than 65 and 9,000 older adults.
• Some 8 million children have become ill, 12 million adults younger than 65 and 2 million older adults.

Veterinary and federal officials announced yesterday, what is believed to be the first case of the H1N1 virus in a feline – a 13-year-old Iowa cat has been found to be infected with the Swine flu virus.

The domestic short-haired cat was reportedly treated last week at Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine in Ames and has since recovered, officials said. The virus also has been confirmed in two ferrets — one in Oregon and the other in Nebraska — but they died, and has also now been confirmed in pigs from a commercial herd.

The veterinarian who treated the cat, said two of the three people in the cat’s Iowa home had flu-like symptoms before the cat became ill. In terms of symptoms, the cat (which is an indoor cat) reportedly became lethargic, had a loss of appetite and appeared to have trouble breathing.

Officials have said that pet owners should take the same sort of precautions against the spread of swine flu to pets, as they would with humans. There is no swine flu vaccine for pets.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced yesterday that pigs in a commercial herd in the state of Indiana have tested positive for the H1N1 swine flu virus, making it the first time the virus has been found in such hogs. It is something though that agriculture experts have long-expected to happen.

Using its swine surveillance program, the USDA said it discovered four tissue samples (collected in late October) that tested positive for the virus. The USDA said also that the pigs as well as the people caring for the animals have recovered fully.

USDA officials have stressed however that instances of pigs with the H1N1 swine flu do not pose a threat to consumers of pork products. It may still be bad news however for the pork industry, which has been struggling with poor prices that have been blamed on swine flu fears and the global recession. The positive tests in Indiana also come just days after U.S. officials successfully negotiated an end to one of the more damaging commercial effects of swine flu — China implementing a six-month ban on pork imports. It is now expected that the Chinese will reopen their import markets, offering pork producers an opportunity to export to what was their fastest growing market before the swine flu outbreak.

As the United States reels from reportedly millions of Swine Flu cases, and more than 1000 deaths, U.S. President – Barack Obama – has declared swine flu a national emergency. This emergency declaration allows medical officials to temporarily bypass certain federal requirements in order to prevent the country’s health-care resources from being overburdened. It also gives the United States’ health chief the power to let hospitals move emergency rooms off site in order to speed up treatment and protect non-infected patients.

The declaration of this national swine flu emergency, was done on Friday night (October 23), and comes just days after U.S. Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius warned that swine flu vaccine demand was outstripping supply. As Americans wait for more vaccine doses, 46 of the 50 U.S. states have reported an early flu upsurge. The flu season typically peaks in January or February.

Swine flu is now more prevalent than ever before in the U.S., and production delays have undercut the Government’s initial somewhat optimistic estimates that as many as 120,000,000 swine flu vaccine doses would be available by the middle of this month.

According to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, so far, only 11,000,000 swine flu vaccine doses have gone out to doctors’ offices, health departments and health care providers across the U.S.

The World Health Organisation announced yesterday, that 5,000 people have died from swine flu infections since the A (H1N1) virus was uncovered in April of this year.

In its latest update on the flu pandemic, the UN health agency said that most of the fatal cases – 3,539 of them -were recorded in North and South America. Notably, Trinidad and Tobago, Iceland and Sudan  reported their first fatal cases over the past week. Rwanda, Mongolia, and Sao Tome & Principe also recorded swine flu cases for the first time, as the virus continued its rapid global spread.

Notably also though, the A (H1N1) influenza incidents are declining in tropical areas of the world – with the exception of Cuba and Colombia. The World Health Organisation also said that there was no significant pandemic related activity over the past week in the temperate areas of the southern hemisphere.

How does the common cold affect your body? The common cold is best described as a viral infectious disease that infects the body’s upper respiratory system. The common cold is also known as ‘acute viral rhinopharyngitis’, or ‘acute coryza’. The common cold is the most popular infectious disease in humans, and it is largely caused by coronaviruses or rhinoviruses. The main difference between the common cold virus and the Swine Flu virus is that while both will penetrate and infect cells, the Swine Flu virus actually infects cells deeper in the lungs than does the common cold virus.

The human body can never build up resistance to all the viruses that can cause the common cold. This is why colds are so common and recurring. Did you know that the typical kindergarten child gets an average of 12 colds per year? Compare that to adolescents and adults who catch about seven per year. Have you ever considered the use of fresh ginger in the common cold? Ginger is said to be an excellent home remedy for colds and coughs. Try this – cut ten grams of ginger into small pieces, then and boil them in the equivalent of a cup of water. Strain it then add half a teaspoon of sugar and drink while very hot. Do this twice daily – it may just work for you.

Looking for other common cold and flu treatments? A host of options await, but here are some key tips to help you AVOID getting the cold or flu in the first place: 1) Avoid close contact with someone who has a cold or the flu. 2) Eat lots of vitamin-rich vegetables and fruit regularly in order to help keep your immune system strong. 3) Wash your hands regularly – cold and flu viruses can be transmitted from one person to another by touch. 4) Keep surfaces in your home clean – particularly in the kitchen and bathroom. 5) Avoid touching your face – especially your nose and mouth.

A new swine flu vaccine was approved yesterday by the United States’ Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This is the first long-anticipated step, as the government looks to start mass vaccinations next month.

The vaccine is made by CSL Ltd. of Australia, Switzerland’s Novartis, France’s Sanofi-Pasteur and the U.S.-based Medimmune.

The bulk of the vaccines should start arriving on October 15, and it should be available at approximately 90,000 locations in the U.S. The Government has ordered 195 million doses, and will order more if needed.

The Western Australia state government confirmed recently that a 38-year-old Perth man is the first Australian case of swine flu that has been resistant to the popular antiviral drug Tamiflu.

The state’s department of health the man has a weakened immune system, and had initially responded to the drug but developed a resistant strain of the virus when his illness relapsed. Up to now, there are just 13 confirmed cases of Tamiflu-resistant Swine Flu (H1N1) infections around the world. It has widely been accepted that a few isolated cases of Tamiflu-resistant H1N1 pandemic flu would arise from time to time.

The man is currently in intensive care in critical condition.

Wondering how the Swine Flu virus actually works? A study that was released yesterday showed that the Swine flu virus can infect cells deeper in the lungs than seasonal flu, thus helping to increase the severity of the illness.

Influenza viruses penetrate cells by attaching themselves to molecules (called receptors) that are located on the outside of the cell wall. Seasonal virus strains typically attach themselves almost exclusively to cells that are found in the throat, nose and upper airway, thus helping to cause some of influenza’s signature symptoms – scratchy throat, runny nose, a dry cough.

The swine flu virus however sticks to a greater range of receptors than seasonal virus strains, and so it can also breach cells deep in the lungs.

The swine flu study was funded by the European Union, and published in the journal Nature Biotechnology. It basically provides the first laboratory confirmation of reports from front-line doctors that some patients with swine flu (h1n1) virus tend to suffer worse symptoms compared to those with a normal seasonal flu.