The Swine Fever influenza that is currently being kept at bay in Finland and by many countries throughout the World is something I have being catching snippets of news for a while now.It seems that, as a British Expatriate,I left Britain where it all started in 1864 and now face the same in Finland.Must be said though,that the Finnish Health Care System is dealing with it calmly and effectively.
As my wife works closely with contagious diseases,in The Helsinki University Hospital,I get bits of information,though of course no names.I was however alarmed by the following announcement by the Helsinki Times the other day-
“
The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), a government agency, said Monday that more than 60 swine influenza cases had been diagnosed in the country, up from 43 on Friday.
Antti Alitalo, an infectious disease specialist at THL, said the actual figure might be higher than 60 as a number of suspected cases had been found over the weekend.”
So,what is swine fever
Swine influenza (also called swine flu, hog flu, and pig flu) is an infection of a host animal by any one of several specific types of microscopic organisms called “swine influenza virus”. …
The Classical swine fever (CSF) is a highly contagious viral disease of pigs. In its acute form the disease generally results in high morbidity and mortality
CSF was first confirmed in 1864 in Britain and was initially allowed to spread unchecked until 1878, when legislation for its control was introduced. The disease persisted for many years until it was finally eradicated from Great Britain in 1966. Since then there have been sporadic outbreaks in 1971 and 1986.
A more serious outbreak in East Anglia,Britain in 2000 affected 16 farms. A total of 74,793 pigs including those on contact farms were slaughtered to eradicate the disease. The cause of this most recent outbreak was not finally established but was most likely the result of pigs eating a contaminated imported pork product.
Clinical signs
The symptoms of CSF and African swine fever (ASF) are almost identical and either may occur in chronic or acute form. Laboratory diagnosis is necessary to distinguish CSF from ASF. The incubation period for CSF is variable but is usually between five and ten days. In the acute form pigs develop a high temperature (40.5 degrees C or 105 degrees F), then become dull and go off their food. Other symptoms seen can vary but will include some or all of the following:
- Constipation followed by diarrhoea
- Gummed-up eyes
- Coughing
- Blotchy discolouration of the skin
- Abortion, still births and weak litters
- Weakness of hindquarters.
- Nervous signs including convulsions and tremors in new born piglets.
As I see it,if I keep away from Finnish Pigs,I should remain healthy.Though as it is so contagious, I am keeping myself aware as to where I am and who I meet with.Now I know I am getting older:I am becoming careful!in order to stay away from Swine Influenze
Similar Posts:
- Ice Swimming in Finland
- Finnish Sauna,key to life
- The Olde Worlde art of Finnish Earwigging
- Visiting Lappeenranta or Russia
- Finnish people,nature and Their Country Cottages
- Helsinki Public Transport ensures Cities safety
Popularity: 2%
{ 1 trackback }
{ 0 comments… add one now }