Where Did Swine Flu Originate? Ft. Dix USA

Source
History

1976 U.S. outbreak

On February 5, 1976, an army recruit at Fort Dix said he felt tired and weak. He died the next day and four of his fellow soldiers were later hospitalized. Two weeks after his death, health officials announced that swine flu was the cause of death and that this strain of flu appeared to be closely related to the strain involved in the 1918 flu pandemic. Alarmed public-health officials decided that action must be taken to head off another major pandemic, and they urged President Gerald Ford that every person in the U.S. be vaccinated for the disease. The vaccination program was plagued by delays and public relations problems, but about 24% of the population had been vaccinated by the time the program was canceled.

About 500 cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome, resulting in death from severe pulmonary complications for 25 people, were probably caused by an immunopathological reaction to the 1976 vaccine. Other influenza vaccines have not been linked to Guillain-Barré syndrome, though caution is advised for certain individuals, particularly those with a history of GBS.

What's the first thing Army recruits do when arriving at base? Pick up their kit, get their haircut and get their vaccinations...

Acording to the CDC. the 1918 "Spanish Flu" is the original source of the n subtype of "Swine Flu" circulating now.
Fort Dix was not the origin. It seems Pigs are a mixing bowl for many virus's.



"Novel Swine Influenza Virus Subtype H3N1, United States"


"Influenza A virus infects various animal species and transmits among different hosts, especially between humans and swine. Swine may serve as a mixing vessel to create new reassortants that could infect humans. Thus, monitoring and characterizing influenza viruses in swine are important in preventing interspecies transmission. We report the emergence and characterization of a novel H3N1 subtype of swine influenza virus (SIV) in the United States. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the H3N1 SIVs may have acquired the hemagglutinin gene from an H3N2 turkey isolate, the neuraminidase gene from a human H1N1 isolate, and the remaining genes from currently circulating SIVs. The H3N1 SIVs were antigenically related to the turkey virus. Lung lesions and nasal shedding occurred in swine infected with the H3N1 SIVs, suggesting the potential to transmit among swine and to humans. Further surveillance will help determine whether this novel subtype will continue to circulate in swine populations.

Influenza A viruses infect many animal species including birds, seals, whales, humans, horses, and swine. Migrating waterfowl are the primordial reservoir. They contain a gene pool of all subtypes of influenza A viruses (1), and phylogenetic analysis suggests that transmission of influenza A virus among various species can occur. Interspecies transmission between humans and swine has been documented (1). Both human and swine influenza viruses (SIVs) recognize sialyl α2,6-galactose oligosaccharide side chains as the receptor on the host cell surface (2,3). In addition, swine cells also contain sialyl α2,3-galactose-linkage, the receptor for avian influenza viruses. Experimental and epidemiologic evidence demonstrates that different subtypes of avian influenza viruses can replicate in swine (4–6). Therefore, swine can be a vessel for reassortment of human and avian influenza viruses (7).

The viral structure that binds to the cellular receptor is the receptor-binding site, which is located on the globular part of the hemagglutinin (HA) monomer (8). Based on a crystallographic model, the receptor-binding site of the H3 subtype includes conserved residues Tyr98, His193, Glu190, Trp53, and Leu194 (8). Two other conserved residues at positions 226 and 228 within the binding pocket determine host range specificity (3). Leu226 and Ser228 selectively bind to α2,6 sialosides found on human and swine cells, while Gln226 and Gly228 bind to the α2,3 sialosides found predominantly on avian cells (3,9,10).

Influenza viruses currently circulating in North American swine are subtypes H1N1, H3N2, and H1N2 (11). The classical H1N1 viruses have been circulating in the swine population since the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 (1). The first SIV, A/SW/IA/15/30, was isolated in 1930 and is antigenically similar to the 1918 human influenza virus (12). From 1930 to 1998, classic H1N1 viruses were the predominantly isolated subtype from US swine. In 1998, a new SIV subtype H3N2 emerged and became established in the North American swine population (13,14). Genetic analysis showed that it was a triple reassortant virus containing genes from swine, human, and avian influenza viruses. The H3N2 SIV acquired the polymerase basic (PB) protein 1, HA, and neuraminidase (NA) genes from a recent human virus, the PB2 and polymerase acidic (PA) protein genes from avian viruses, and the nucleocapsid protein (NP), matrix (M), and nonstructural (NS) genes from the classic H1N1 swine virus (13–16). A year later, reassortment between the H3N2 and classic H1N1 SIV resulted in a new subtype H1N2, where the HA of the H3N2 subtype was replaced by the HA from the classic H1N1 virus (17). This H1N2 subtype caused respiratory disease in swine and continues to circulate in swine populations (18). Recently, wholly avian influenza viruses, subtypes H4N6 (5), H3N3, and H1N1 (19), from water fowl were isolated from diseased swine in Canada; however, no evidence shows that these viruses can be successfully maintained in swine populations. We identified and characterized a new SIV subtype H3N1 that may have arisen from reassortment of an H3N2 turkey isolate, a human H1N1 isolate, and currently circulating swine influenza viruses."


www.cdc.gov...

Wow, I was JUST NOW talking with my Mother about 1976.

I had asked her what she thought about this swine flu thing going on, and she replied that she couldnt believe no one was talking about 1976 in the news media. I asked her what the heck happened in 1976. She told me that there was a swine flu outbreak and people were getting vaccinated all over the country.

She told me she had gotten the vaccine shot also, she was in her mid 20s at the time. Apparently she got sick from the vaccine itself, and she said she was so ill that she couldn't even walk. She said she had to crawl around her apartment she was living in at the time because she literally could not support herself on two feet. She said she has never been that sick before or ever since.

I told her that she must've been one of the poor folks who actually get the illness from the vaccine shot, instead of the vaccine shot working. Sometimes the vaccine doesn't empower the immune system to make you immune to the strain, sometimes the small amount of the virus in the actual vaccine will spread throughout the person and cause the full blown illness.

This happened to my Mother in 1976, before I was born. I wonder if that means she is immune to catching it again? And I was born in 1982, just 6 years later. I wonder if I could've received the immune trait from her, being that she gave birth to me and that I formed inside of her body. Do immunities pass on or just bad things like physical dependancy on drugs and stuff like diseases?

[edit on 4/27/2009 by runetang]