[akstrohm]

This swine flu hasn't actually been isolated from pigs at all yet. It gets the name because some of the genetic components come from other swine flu strains (as well as human flu strains). But I agree with Paula--even if it doesn't make sense, the pigs will eventually be slaughtered anyway.

And Susan, it's hard to say how problematic this strain will be. The difference between this strain and the seasonal ones is that this one kills young, healthy people due to a massive cytokine release. That is very different from the deaths seen in the young and elderly that the normal seasonal flu strains cause. Just because it's treatable with two antivirals now does not mean that it will continue to be. Flu strains mutate very rapidly. Finally, in past pandemics, the second or third waves tended to be much worse than the first. I'm not saying this is reason to panic. It just is not currently possible to say how dangerous it may become in the future.