Fact that the purpose of the ’swine flu’ pandemic flu to call off the middle of the world, according to the World Animal Health Organization or Oie is mistaken. For this new virus strain is a combination of a bird virus, human and pig.

Be Oie, this pathogen is not a virus but the virus of human classic characteristics that include a component of the virus avian (bird), pigs and humans.

“The virus was not isolated until now in the animals. Therefore, it is not properly designate the disease of swine influenza,” the agency statement of animal health bermarkas in Paris, France is reported as AFP, Selasa (28/4/2009).

Added OIE, science, science will show whether the virus is circulating between the livestock and the results will determine whether countries have acted properly prohibit the import of swine.

Back OIE, human flu epidemic in the past that come from animals have been named according to geographical origin, such as the Spanish flu. “It is logical to call this disease ‘influenza North America,” Oie origin.

In an interview with AFP, the Director General Bernard Vallat Oie states there is no evidence that swine flu virus is actually derived from animals and pigs.

“Yet there is evidence that this virus, currently circulating among humans, actually comes from animals. There is no element to support this,” Vallat firm.

Added Vallat, it is not fair to punish the pig breeder who put out their life’s business, discuss the risks that have not been proven at all. Moreover, according to him, so far no one can show how or where the strain of virus was new.

WHY only in Mexico ..? Swine flu had started to spread all over the world. However, outside of Mexico, this new type of virus does not kill. Why only in Mexico this virus to kill people?

“The main questions is why so far only death occurred in Mexico, although not many in number? Why are other countries in the light infection?” so write Reuters, Tuesday (29/4/2009).

Far in Mexico has occurred 26 cases of the disease is caused by the H1N1 virus. Mexican authorities claim the virus has killed 149 people, but except for 7 cases of death, the rest is still investigation.

Overall, the WHO confirmed 79 cases receiving the swine flu ascertained. In them there are 40 in the U.S., 26 Mexico, Canada 6, 2 Spanish, English 2, and 3 New Zealand. With the exception of Mexico, the cases in other places does not result in death.

Currently more than 15 WHO epidemiology expert has to be Mexican government to help overcome the spread of disease. They help collect new data to ensure the virus in the sample test to identify the disease more recently.

Definitive with the outbreak of swine flu, Mexican origin Arsenal striker Carlos Vela was told not to attend the training sessions in which the Premier League club that is concerned with the outbreak of swine flu that has been eating the victim.

Vela, 20 years old, or are not going to Mexico of late. However, he gets visits from his friends last week and after a series of tests as a precaution.

Players who have appear 12 times for The Gunner this season but that could accompany his team against Manchester United, fight in the first leg Champions League semifinal at Old Trafford Stadium, Wednesday (29 / 4).

“He was not released for the exercise. I have to remain at home and not allowed to practice. Meksikonya friends mengunjunginya last week,” he said.

read more >>>  http://football-442.blogspot.com

With the swine flu now holding the potential for a worldwide pandemic, there is perhaps no one more worried about getting sick than women who are pregnant.

This is particularly true for those of you over 35 who may already be struggling with fertility issues – or maybe undergoing fertility treatments right now.

The good news is that pregnancy doesn’t necessarily increase your risk for getting the swine flu – or any other type of flu. However, it is important to note that if you do get the flu while you are pregnant, studies show you are up to five times more likely to suffer serious complications – such as pneumonia. And that is often where most of the flu fatalities lie.

In terms of risks to your baby, the greatest threat from illnesses such as the flu occur from high fevers in the mother during pregnancy. Sustained body temperature over 101 degrees, and particularly over 102 degrees can increase the risk of miscarriage and lead to an increased risk of neural tube defects in your baby – which include life-threatening malformations of the brain and spine.

The good news is there are things you can do to prevent these problems even if you get the flu.

The first is to control your fever.The March of Dimes recommends acetaminophen (Tylenol) but talk to your doctor first to make certain it’s okay for you. You should also try to keep your body as cool as possible with cold compresses, and drink plenty of fluids. Pregnancy is not the time to “sweat out ” a fever.

Second is continue to take your prenatal vitamins – particularly 1000 mcg of folic acid. Studies conducted at the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities in England, found that women who took a multi vitamin high in folic acid during pregnancy decreased their baby’s risk of birth defects, even if they ran a fever while pregnant.

In terms of the the two medications used to treat swine flu – Tamiflu and Relenza – like other flu medications they are ranked by the FDA as “Category C ” drugs – meaning they have not been tested for use during pregnancy. That said, it’s important to note that there have not been any cases of birth defects or other serious health concerns linked to the use of these drugs in pregnant women who have used them.

So, if symptoms are severe, your doctor might suggest a course of either drug, and if this is the case, experts say don’t be fearful.

Finally, relax and don’t worry! Right now, the stress and anxiety of worrying about getting sick is likely to cause you more harm than the risk of actually getting the flu, which at this point is still quite small.

For more tips and information on swine flu and pregnancy, and some important details on what to do if you contract swine flu while undergoing fertility treatments, check out this article on GettingPregnantNow.org.

For more health and beauty information for women over 35 visit www.RedDressDiary.com.

Don’t kid yourself, if you have Swine Flu, you can have the best doctors in the world taking care of you, but the name of the game is Flu Prevention, and the question is how do you resist getting the Swine Flu or any other flu for that matter? You need to get the germ into your body in order to contract the Swine Flu, and that means it has to get into an opening.

 

Even if you get the germ on your skin, it doesn’t guarantee you will contract Swine Flu because it must enter via the mouth, nose, or eyes. Those are the pathways into the body. If you have or are having a surgical procedure done, such as a hospital patient, than the surgical site itself is also a pathway for germs to enter the body.

 

I am going to give you a few basic ideas about how to prevent the Swine Flu, and for that matter, colds and viruses in general.

 

• Wash those hands, and keep washing them. Every time, you shake hands with someone, you are shaking hands with everyone else they have shaken hands with, since they last washed their hands. If you do shake hands, then before you touch any other part of your body including your nose, mouth, and eyes, you must get those hands clean.

 

• A person who is infected can pass the germ to you a day before symptoms appear, and up to 7 days after symptoms appear. You get the virus by contact with such a person directly, or by contact with an object that they touched. It is debatable how long an object such as a doorknob can retain the live germ.

 

• Beware of door handles. About the most germ infested surface you can touch is a door handle or the faucets you turn the water on and off with, especially in bathrooms that others use. Once you touch either of these objects, it is as though you never washed your hands at all. Our suggestion is to use the same paper towel you dry your hands with as a barrier between your now germ free hand and the door knob or water faucet.

 

• At work, we keep bottles of Windex handy. Just spray the bathroom doors, and the faucets and the door handles to people’s offices and let the air dry them which only takes a minute or two. If you immediately dry the surface, you destroy most of the germ inhibiting barrier.

 

• Go to a major discounter like Wal-Mart and stock up on hand sanitizers. Easily carried 2 to 4 oz bottles that can fit in your pocket, are less than a $1 and give one to each member of the family. They are fabulous for cleaning hands, and the residue evaporates within seconds. Doctors use them all the time. It’s cheap insurance.

 

• If and when the Swine Flu hits your area, than order some masks that are N95 rated. They are recommended by the Center for Disease Control, and are very inexpensive. Go online and Google “Swine Flu Masks”, and check prices.

 

Follow these simple rules religiously, and we think the Swine Flu will be bypassing you and your house this season. Good luck.

For several years the media has been cautiously following the possibility of a bird flu outbreak, but swine flu has beaten it to the punch.  Influenza is a nasty little virus that can be deadly under the right conditions, and bird flu is a particularly bad strain that is deadly more often.  No matter which strain happens to be floating around; the symptoms are the same; coughing, sneezing, aching and fever.  If you have a cold, this could also describe how you feel except for the fever; which only occurs with the flu.  Education is always the best way to combat fear, so knowing the facts about influenza can help ease the mind.

There are dozens of different possible flu strains that can circulate through the population at any one time.  Once you get one of these strains, your body learns to produce a defense against that particular strain and you can’t get it again after your body beats it.  If you could get all of them, you would never get the flu again; but only a few strains float around at once.  As time passes and new people are born, old strains begin to come back and infect a whole new population with no immunity.  About 2% of all the people who catch the flu will die from it due to complications like old age and compromised immune systems.  The worst outbreak happened in 1918 and killed about 20% of everyone who contracted the virus, but our knowledge is far greater now than it was then.

The first thing to remember about swine flu is that it’s just another flu strain; and this isn’t the first time we have seen it.  Every year doctors guess which strains will float around the population and they produce a vaccine to fight them.  Swine flu wasn’t what they guessed for this year, but even last years flu vaccine seems to be partially effective in preventing people from getting this strain.  It also responds very well to every type of treatment we currently use to fight influenza.  All in all, less than 1% of people who catch swine flu die from it; so it’s even lighter than just a regular flu.

The last time swine flu showed up was in 1976, and just like now there was a large panic in the population because of bad information.  The government spent millions of dollars on a flu vaccine that did little to help with the strain, and people were urged to get the shot for the whole family.  When it was all said and done, more people had died from the vaccine than from the flu itself because the strain never swept through the population.  This time around, it is more widespread and it appears to be hitting the population with a fury.  A feverish, achy, take a couple days off and you will be fine fury.  You may get it and you may not, but unless you are at risk from any other virus; it isn’t anything to really worry about.

If you have a fever and it rises over 102, it’s time to go get treatment; regardless of the cause of the fever itself.  Health insurance or discount plans like Ameriplan will help with the cost, so don’t hesitate to go to the doctor if you find yourself in this situation.  Another warning sign that you may be at risk is if the symptoms are still getting worse after the fourth day.  Most people have had at least one strain of the flu in their lives, and it isn’t much fun; but the panic that is currently in the media is unfounded.  Over the course of 2009 we will most likely see this strain slow down and then resurge later in the year, and some people will die from it.  Given the choice though, swine flu is easier to deal with than the various other flu strains we see every other year.

Swine Flu is a respiratory disease in pigs triggered by a virus called H1N1. The new strain of H1N1 is a deadly combination of viruses from pigs, birds and humans. They symptoms of Swine Flu are sudden fever, coughing, extreme exhaustion and muscle aches. There is also diarrhea and vomiting more than normal flu.

Risk factors: Medical experts say that people, who are exposed areas where pigs flock are at risk of contracting the virus. The strains of Swine flu rarely pass on from humans to humans. In rare cases, the virus mutates into a form that can move from one person to another. The strain responsible for the 2009 swine flu outbreak has apparently undergone such a mutation and may stay like that for a longer period of time.

Can Swine flu be prevented or cured? There is no vaccine which can prevent swine flu. Medicines like Tamiflu and Relenza can be effective, if taken in the early stages of the disease.

Is it safe to eat pork? Swine Flu is not caused by eating pork or its products including salami, ham and sausages. However, it is a good practice to cook pork over 70 degrees C, which kills the virus.

Why is it called swine flu? The virus is called swine flu because one of its surface proteins is similar to viruses that usually infect pigs. Pork industry in the US are putting pressure on the officials to change the name of the disease, because no pig as such have been found infected with this particular illness which has spread among humans.

The swine flu epidemic is real, and it’s spreading like a flame.

The virus is suspected in 159 deaths and 2,498 illnesses in Mexico alone, according to the Associated Press (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090429/ap_on_he_me/med_swine_flu). In the United States, 66 cases of swine flu have been confirmed in 5 states. In New York City alone, 45 cases of swine flu have been reported, and there are signs it is beginning to spread from person to person. At St. Francis Preparatory school in New York, hundreds of students have been found ill with symptoms similar to swine flu, including a teacher in one of the 28 confirmed cases. The outbreak prompted a nearby school to shutdown after 80 students called in sick.

New York Health Commissioner Health Thomas Frieden confirmed, “Swine flu is here, and it is spreading.”

Infections are developing around the world. The swine flu epidemic has spread to at least 7 countries after Israel itself confirmed two cases.

The United States is discouraging its own citizens from unnecessary travel to Mexico, while other countries like Cuba and Argentina have outright banned travel to the country. Mexico is doing its own part by temporarily shutting down the pyramids and requiring restaurants to serve take-out food only.

Yet experts state that the virus is already spreading too fast for such efforts to make much of a difference. The virus has already begun showing up in too many places for it to be contained.

Waiting for a swine flu vaccine will time. Although scientists hope to have a swine flu vaccine developed by early May, it will take many more months before shots are available for the first round of testing.

Simple measures can be taken on a personal level, however, to keep the infection from spreading and minimizing the danger of becoming infected. Standard prevention techniques for other common forms of flu, such as frequent hand washing and the use of alcohol sanitizers, can be very effective at slowing the spread of the virus. Influenza can spread from coughs and sneezes, so the polite rule of covering your mouth still applies.

The one piece of encouraging news is that is appears that people can make a quick recovery if the illness is treated early. Of the nearly 2,500 cases of suspected cases in Mexico, only 1,311 people remain hospitalized, suggesting that the illness is very treatable if medical attention is sought in the early stages.

There’s far more that you can do than just canceling your trip to Cancun this summer. Wash your hands frequently; cover your mouth or use tissues when you sneeze. Seek medical attention for any symptoms, as it’s always better to be safe than risk the onset of the illness.

The swine flu epidemic is real, and it’s spreading like a flame.

The virus is suspected in 159 deaths and 2,498 illnesses in Mexico alone, according to the Associated Press (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090429/ap_on_he_me/med_swine_flu). In the United States, 66 cases of swine flu have been confirmed in 5 states. In New York City alone, 45 cases of swine flu have been reported, and there are signs it is beginning to spread from person to person. At St. Francis Preparatory school in New York, hundreds of students have been found ill with symptoms similar to swine flu, including a teacher in one of the 28 confirmed cases. The outbreak prompted a nearby school to shutdown after 80 students called in sick.

New York Health Commissioner Health Thomas Frieden confirmed, “Swine flu is here, and it is spreading.”

Infections are developing around the world. The swine flu epidemic has spread to at least 7 countries after Israel itself confirmed two cases.

The United States is discouraging its own citizens from unnecessary travel to Mexico, while other countries like Cuba and Argentina have outright banned travel to the country. Mexico is doing its own part by temporarily shutting down the pyramids and requiring restaurants to serve take-out food only.

Yet experts state that the virus is already spreading too fast for such efforts to make much of a difference. The virus has already begun showing up in too many places for it to be contained.

Waiting for a swine flu vaccine will time. Although scientists hope to have a swine flu vaccine developed by early May, it will take many more months before shots are available for the first round of testing.

Simple measures can be taken on a personal level, however, to keep the infection from spreading and minimizing the danger of becoming infected. Standard prevention techniques for other common forms of flu, such as frequent hand washing and the use of alcohol sanitizers, can be very effective at slowing the spread of the virus. Influenza can spread from coughs and sneezes, so the polite rule of covering your mouth still applies.

The one piece of encouraging news is that is appears that people can make a quick recovery if the illness is treated early. Of the nearly 2,500 cases of suspected cases in Mexico, only 1,311 people remain hospitalized, suggesting that the illness is very treatable if medical attention is sought in the early stages.

There’s far more that you can do than just canceling your trip to Cancun this summer. Wash your hands frequently; cover your mouth or use tissues when you sneeze. Seek medical attention for any symptoms, as it’s always better to be safe than risk the onset of the illness.

Alert-Potentially Deadly Swine Flu spreading throughout the U.S.

By Michael Webster: Syndicated Investigative Reporter. April 25, 2009 at 11:30 PM PST.

Deadly Swine flu has panicked Mexico and is spreading to the USA. Hundreds of Americans have come down with the symptoms and as we as a nation hit somewhere between 100 to  2,000 confirmed deaths by the Pandemic the world as we know it well change dramatically. In Mexico with under one hundred deaths and two thousand infected reported the Mexican government has closed schools and all other public gatherings and soldiers are patrolling the streets after it was confirmed that human to human transmission is occurring and that the virus is a brand new strain which is seemingly affecting young, healthy people the worst, and that the bug is a never-before-seen intercontinental mixture of human, avian and pig viruses from America, Europe and Asia.

The influenza strain that has struck Mexico and the United States involves, in many cases, a never-before-seen strain of the H1N1 virus. The flu virus is notorious for its ability to mutate and evolve new features that allows it to escape the immune defense systems of its victims. The appearance of new flu strains is therefore a perennial problem for doctors and scientists.

Experts warn that it may be too late to contain the new outbreak, given how widespread the known cases are. If the confirmed deaths are the first signs of a pandemic, then cases are probably incubating around the world by now, said Dr Michael Osterholm, a flu expert at the University of Minnesota.

According to at least one government source the U.S. Government is on the verge of limiting airline flights into the country and forbidding all major public gatherings and that will include closing schools nationwide. The U.S. Government is expected to close the borders and if you’re an American traveling over seas you better head home now as soon even Americans will be barred from entering the country and returning home.

Wide spread quarantines and curfews are expected with National Guard patrolling the streets in America. Much of the Patriot Act shell be implemented and emergency presidenual executive orders to be signed into law to control the people.

Closely held information indicates that this virus may be a synthetic creation and are already manifesting among humans.

Mexican army officer claims the Mexican government believes this virus may have been introduced deliberately by so far unknown sources.

According to medical experts the virus is a very dangerous and deadly “never-before-seen form of the flu that combines pig, bird and human viruses” which consists of an intercontinental mix of viruses from North America, Europe and Asia and there is no known effective vaccine.

Paul Joseph Watson of Infowars is reporting that the “CDC officials detected a virus with a unique combination of gene segments that have not been seen in people or pigs before,” according to AP.

“This strain of swine influenza that’s been cultured in a laboratory is something that’s not been seen anywhere actually in the United States and the world, so this is actually a new strain of influenza that’s been identified,” said Dr. John Carlo, Dallas Co. Medical Director.

Watson further reports that alarming reports are now filtering in about people catching the illness who have had no contact with pigs whatsoever. These include a man and his daughter in San Diego County, a 41-year-old woman in Imperial County and two teenagers in San Antonio, Texas. In fact, in all U.S. cases, the victims had no contact with any pigs.

Dr. Wilma Wooten, San Diego County’s public health officer, told KPBS “We have had person-to-person spread with the father and the daughter,” says Wooten, “And also with the two teenagers in Texas, they were in the same school. So that also indicates person-to-person transfer.”

“Dr. Wooten says it’s unclear how people were exposed to swine flu. She says none of the patients have had any contact with pigs”.

The panic  spreading in Mexico, where over a 1000 cases of pneumonia in the capital alone are suspected to be related to the swine flu and the virus, has hit young and healthy people, which is very rare with a flu outbreak. Despite the danger of a pandemic, the U.S. border with Mexico remains open but ICE and U.S. military is on stand by alert should circumstances change and could close the border within the next few days.

The U.S. Government fears that there will be rioting in the streets of Mexico with Mexicans rushing to the hospitals making the situation dyer and people of Mexico panicking and coming north by the millions for medical attention, food and water.

Mexico had less then a hundred deaths attributed to the virus when they started shutting down their schools and museums and canceled hundreds of public events in its sprawling, overcrowded capital of 20 million people to try to prevent further infections,” Reports Reuters.

“My level of concern is significant,” said Dr. Martin Fenstersheib, the health officer for Santa Clara County. “We have a novel virus, a brand-new strain that’s spreading human to human, and we are also seeing a virulent strain in Mexico that seems to be related. We certainly have concerns for this escalating.”

Watson continues by stating the WHO insists that the outbreak has “pandemic potential”, known generically as oseltamivir, a pill that can both treat flu and prevent infection, according to officials.

Those that have a stake in the Tamiflu vaccine include top globalists and BIlderberg members like George Shultz, Lodewijk J.R. de Vink and former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

Rumsfeld played   a key role in hyping an outbreak of swine flu back in the 1976 when he urged the entire country to get vaccinated. Many batches of the vaccine were contaminated, resulting in hundreds of sick people and 52 fatalities.

The fact that the properties of the strain are completely new, that the virus is spreading from people to people, and that the young and healthy are being hit worst, has disturbing parallels to the deadly 1918 pandemic that killed millions.

It is unclear as to why, if the virus is a brand new strain, that public health officials are so confident programs of mass vaccination, which are already being prepared, would necessarily be effective.

It certainly wouldn’t be the first time that deadly flu viruses have been concocted in labs and then dispatched with the intention of creating a pandemic.

Last month Czech newspapers questioned if the shocking discovery of vaccines contaminated with the deadly avian flu virus which were distributed to 18 countries by the American company Baxter were part of a conspiracy to provoke a pandemic.

Watson warns in is article that since the probability of mixing a live virus biological weapon with vaccine material by accident is virtually impossible, this leaves no other explanation than that the contamination was a deliberate attempt to weaponize the H5N1 virus to its most potent extreme and distribute it via conventional flu vaccines to the population who would then infect others to a devastating degree as the disease goes airborne.

However, this is not the first time that vaccine companies have been caught distributing vaccines contaminated with deadly viruses.

In 2006 it was revealed that Bayer Corporation had discovered that their injection drug, which was used by hemophiliacs, was contaminated with the HIV virus. Internal documents prove that after they positively knew that the drug was contaminated, they took it off the U.S. market only to dump it on the European, Asian and Latin American markets, knowingly exposing thousands, most of them children, to the live HIV virus. Government officials in France went to prison for allowing the drug to be distributed. The documents show that the FDA colluded with Bayer to cover-up the scandal and allowed the deadly drug to be distributed globally. No Bayer executives ever faced arrest or prosecution in the United States.

Infowars reported yesterday that the last time there was a significant outbreak of a new form of swine flu in the U.S. it originated at the army base at Fort Dix, New Jersey.

The Guardian is reporting that there is no vaccine specifically protects against swine flu and it is unclear how much protection current generic vaccines might offer. A version genetically matched to the new swine flu virus has been created by the US Centers for Disease Control, said Dr Richard Besser, the agency’s acting director. However, it could take months to create enough supplies for mass vaccination programs – if governments decide vaccine production is necessary.

Health officials strongly urge Americans to stay at home avoid crowds and hospitals, wash your hands, mouth and nose several times a day and wear at least a cloth face mask.

Related articles at: www.lagunajournal.com and www.usborderfirereport.com

The threat of a pandemic is sweeping the world, through a new strain of swine flu. Many deaths have been recorded in Mexico. Several other countries also have suspect cases reported, from as far apart as France, Hong Kong, Canada, Israel and New Zealand.

Caused by type A influenza Swine flu, is a respiratory disease. Studies have shown that the swine flu H1N1 is common throughout pig populations worldwide, with 25% of all animals displaying antibody evidence of having the disease.

Swine flu viruses do not usually affect human beings. However, the current swine flu has a deadly mixture of a gene segment from bird flu, a segment from human flu, plus two genes from pig flu. Pigs are known to be the world’s best ‘mixing bowls’. This totally unknown virus is causing extreme concern, as humans have no immunity to the disease.

Swine flu can’t be contacted through eating pork products, however human-to-human infections are happening, without the victims having any contact with infected animals.

Here are simple precautions you need to use to provide self-protection against the threatened pandemic:

• Make sure you cover your nose and mouth if you sneeze or cough. Ensure you get rid of the tissue in the rubbish can after you use it. Keep a mask handy in case anyone sneezes or coughs around you.

Just one sneeze thrusts 100,000 droplets into the air at around 90 mph, landing on everything around you. British researchers have found that in a subway train during rush hour, as many as 10% of all commuters can come in contact with the spray and residue from just one sneeze. 150 commuters may become ill from one uncovered sneeze, or cough. The rush of air from a cough travels at speeds of nearly 600 mph.

• Always wash your hands frequently, for up to 20 seconds, with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Always wash your hands thoroughly prior to eating and whenever possible do not eat with your hands.

It is estimated over 80% of all infections are spread by hands. If you are not able to wash your hands, resort to using hand-sanitizers with 60% alcohol content. These are available in handy pocket size containers.

• Attempt to avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth and definitely avoid kissing on the cheeks.

Germs are passed more quickly that way than any other method of transmission.

• Try to stay away from sick people. Isolation and keeping your distance are your most efficient protective measures.
• If you get sick, stay home from work or school and limit contact with other people, to keep them from becoming infected.
• Keep aware and recognize any abnormal symptoms. If you are in doubt, go and seek professional advice.

• Make sure you eat well, be careful of your sleep habits and take regular exercise. Increase your daily dose of vitamin C and practice good hygiene.

Swine flu can be treated. Though it is resistant to two of the four drugs approved for treating flu, two new arrivals, Tamiflu and Relenza have proven to be successful.

Mexico houses hundreds of industrial-scale hog facilities, known as ‘confined animal feeding operations’, where pigs are packed tightly in rows. Thousands of pigs are confined to indoor pens and grain-fed for market. Breeding sows are held in small metal crates where they spend the major part of their lives pregnant, or feeding a new litter of piglets. Up until now, Mexican hog workers, infected with swine flu, have rarely been the cause of infecting other humans, except for close family members.

Don’t kid yourself, if you have Swine Flu, you can have the best doctors in the world taking care of you, but the name of the game is Flu Prevention, and the question is how do you resist getting the Swine Flu or any other flu for that matter? You need to get the germ into your body in order to contract the Swine Flu, and that means it has to get into an opening.

Even if you get the germ on your skin, it doesn’t guarantee you will contract Swine Flu because it must enter via the mouth, nose, or eyes. Those are the pathways into the body. If you have or are having a surgical procedure done, such as a hospital patient, than the surgical site itself is also a pathway for germs to enter the body.

I am going to give you a few basic ideas about how to prevent the Swine Flu, and for that matter, colds and viruses in general.

- Wash those hands, and keep washing them. Every time, you shake hands with someone, you are shaking hands with everyone else they have shaken hands with, since they last washed their hands. If you do shake hands, then before you touch any other part of your body including your nose, mouth, and eyes, you must get those hands clean.

- A person who is infected can pass the germ to you a day before symptoms appear, and up to 7 days after symptoms appear. You get the virus by contact with such a person directly, or by contact with an object that they touched. It is debatable how long an object such as a doorknob can retain the live germ.

- Beware of door handles. About the most germ infested surface you can touch is a door handle or the faucets you turn the water on and off with, especially in bathrooms that others use. Once you touch either of these objects, it is as though you never washed your hands at all. Our suggestion is to use the same paper towel you dry your hands with as a barrier between your now germ free hand and the door knob or water faucet.

- At work, we keep bottles of Windex handy. Just spray the bathroom doors, and the faucets and the door handles to people’s offices and let the air dry them which only takes a minute or two. If you immediately dry the surface, you destroy most of the germ inhibiting barrier.

- Go to a major discounter like Wal-Mart and stock up on hand sanitizers. Easily carried 2 to 4 oz bottles that can fit in your pocket, are less than a $1 and give one to each member of the family. They are fabulous for cleaning hands, and the residue evaporates within seconds. Doctors use them all the time. It’s cheap insurance.

- If and when the Swine Flu hits your area, than order some masks that are N95 rated. They are recommended by the Center for Disease Control, and are very inexpensive. Go online and Google “Swine Flu Masks”, and check prices.

Follow these simple rules religiously, and we think the Swine Flu will be bypassing you and your house this season. Good luck.