Can I get the swine flu from eating pork? How does the swine flu spread. What the hell is a pandemic?
With the current scare of the swine flu, questions like the ones above are being asked by everyone. The CDC published a fact sheet on swine flu called Key facts about Swine Influenza (Swine Flu). BTW, you can NOT get the swine flu from eating pork.
Basically, a pandemic is an epidemic of infectious disease that spreads through populations across a large region. Today [Wednesday] the World Health Organization (WHO) raised its pandemic alert to 5. The WHO’s “Phases of Pandemic Alert,” which has been in existence for five years, characterizes phase 5 as a human-to-human spread of the virus into at least two countries in one WHO region, signaling that a pandemic is imminent. The highest level, phase 6, is defined by community-level outbreaks in at least one other country in a different WHO region. Designation of this phase indicates that a global pandemic is under way. Click here to see all the current WHO’s phases of pandemic alert.
Fortunately, common sense measures can help individuals protect themselves from the swine flu. The number one measure is hand-washing, alcohol-based gel or foam hand sanitizers work well to destroy viruses and bacteria. And cover your dang mouth when you cough or sneeze. [See full report by Reuters, Worried about Swine Flu? Wash your hands].
Déjà vu isn’t it? This is the same stuff our parents told us. Isn’t it ironic that we didn’t listen to our parents, but we’re listening to a pig? Until this swine flu scare blows over, we’re going to be a hand-washing, cough covering, and a sneeze blessing bunch of people!!
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