Influenza A (H1N1) Blog

Archive for the ‘origin’ Category

1. June 1, 2010

   Pandemic Influenza: the role of poultry birds

   Never in history of mankind have we reared as many pigs and chickens as now. The growing demand for meat, especially in developing countries like China, exerts a great pressure in the increase of the quantity of meat in commerce. Therefore, more wild birds are being caught and more domestic birds are being bred. The [...]

2. February 16, 2010

   Pandemic Influenza: the role of pigs

   Birds are important in the natural history of Influenza and flu, but there is another character besides us humans. The pigs.

   Our knowledge of Influenza in pig dates back to at least 1918 when it was observed that they could also catch the flu during a time when the human flu caused an uneven pandemic. In [...]

3. February 9, 2010

   Diversity of the Influenza and the reassortment

   One of the most important characteristics to be considered about the Influenza, in the preparation for pandemics, is the reassortment. A mixture of genes of two or more different viruses is able to generate a new variety. Such as the new Influenza A (H1N1).
   Although the mutations have an important role in the diversity of the [...]