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Swine fluSwine Flu is a form of Influenzavirus Athat is normally virulent only in pigs. Type A is also known as avian influenza, because birdsare asymptomatic carriers. Varieties of influenza virus A that affect swine include H1N1, H1N2and H3N2. A H1N1shift crossed over to humans in the early part of the 20th century, causing the Spanish Flupandemic, which killed up to 50 million people. The death toll was particularly high among young, healthy adults. The U.S. swine flu scare of 1976In 1976, a swine flu scare provided the biggest embarrassment of USPresident Gerald Ford's administration. In January 1976, Gerald R. Ford was vaccinated in front of press cameras. On February 5 an army recruit at Fort Dixsaid he felt tired and weak. He died the next day and four of his fellow soldiers were later hospitalized. Two weeks after his death, health officials announced that swine flu was the cause of death. A number of others vaccinated became paralysed. Many began to fear for President Ford's life and health. Despite the fact that only one person died, alarmed public health officials decided that action must be taken to head off a major pandemic and they urged that every person in the United States be vaccinated for the disease. The vaccinationprogram was plagued by delays and public relations problems but about 24 percent of the population was vaccinated by the time the program was cancelled. The vaccine was blamed for 25 deaths (more people died from the vaccine than died from the swine flu itself) and a small, but statistically significant, rise in the incidence of a rare illness called Guillain-Barré syndromeor GBS. Sources
Categories: Virus stubs| Medicine stubs| Pandemics| Influenza| Medical disasters
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