Swine flu is a respiratory disease of pigs caused by type A influenza that regularly cause outbreaks among pigs. Swine flu viruses are very rare in humans. However, sporadic human infections with swine flu do occasionally occur. Most commonly, human cases of swine influenza happen in people with direct exposure to pigs.

 

What is strange is the fact that two kids in California (a 10-year old boy from San Diego County and a 9-year-old girl from neighboring Imperial County) did not get into contact with pigs or with each other. They experienced fever, coughing and vomiting.

 

“We have here detection of two cases of swine flu virus in children. We are trying to figure out where they came from and how serious they are,” Dan Jernigan, MD, MPH, deputy director of the CDC's influenza division, said.

 

No other infections with swine flu have been detected, the CDC and Texas health authorities said. The boy traveled to Texas with three other kids unaccompanied by adults; crew members who assisted the children are now being tested.

 

Only 12 other cases of human infection with swine flu have been detected since 2005, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of the 12 cases, 11 of the patients had had contact with pigs. In 1976, a strain of swine flu caused illness in 13 soldiers at Fort Dix in New Jersey, killing one.