Medical and Health Documents

This journal contains history about swine influenza (swine flu but some call pig influenza) and how to reduce transmission of influenza viruses between pigs and people

Sample

The following steps are potentially useful to reduce transmission of influenza viruses between pigs and people:

• Influenza virus vaccination of pigs – While the swine influenza virus vaccines used today may not induce sterilizing immunity nor completely eliminate clinical signs of infection, vaccination of pigs can reduce the levels of virus shed by infected animals, and thus reduce the potential for human exposure and zoonotic infections.
• Influenza virus vaccination of swine farm workers – The vaccines produced on a yearly basis for the human population contain only human, not swine, strains of influenza viruses. Nonetheless, these vaccines are likely to provide some level of protection against infection with swine viruses of the same hemagglutinin subtype.
  Conversely, vaccination of farm workers will reduce the amounts of viruses they shed if infected during human influenza outbreaks, and thereby limit the potential for human influenza virus infection of their pigs.
• Sick-leave policies – To further reduce the chances for infection of pigs with human influenza viruses, the farm owner should provide sick-leave policies for employees that encourage them to remain away from work when they are suffering from acute respiratory infections. People typically shed influenza viruses for approximately 3-7 days, with the period of peak shedding correlated with the time of most severe clinical illness.
• Ventilation – Ventilation systems in containment production facilities should be designed to minimizere-circulation of air within animal housing rooms. This is important to reduce the exposure of pigs to viruses from other pigs, to reduce their exposure to human influenza viruses, and conversely, to reduce exposure of workers to swine influenza viruses.
• Basic hygiene practices -Workers should change clothes prior to leaving swine barns for office facilities, food breaks or their homes. In addition, hand-to-face contact should be minimized and hand-washing stations should be available throughout the animal housing areas. Influenza viruses spread not just by inhalation of aerosolized virus, but also by eye and nose contact with droplets of respiratory secretions.
  Interspecies transmission among pigs and birds: The global reservoir of influenza viruses in waterfowl, the examples of infection of pigs with waterfowl-origin influenza viruses, the risks for reassortment of avian viruses with swine and/or human influenza viruses in pigs, and the risk for transmission of influenza viruses from pigs to domestic turkeys all indicate that contact between pigs and both wild and domestic fowl should be minimized. The following factors are potentially useful to reduce transmission of influenza viruses between birds and pigs:
• Bird-proofing – All doorways, windows and air-flow vents in swine housing units should be adequately sealed or screened to prevent entrance of birds. Although small birds such as sparrows, swallows, finches, wrens etc. are not thought to be important in the overall ecology of influenza viruses, they may carry influenza viruses from waterfowl feces into barns on their bodies.

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