H1N1 Virus or "swine flu ". .. (.. got this from a close friend=D sorry if there's no acknowledgment of the source...) What is swine flu? Swine flu is a respiratory disease, caused by influenza type A which infects pigs. There are many types, and the infection is constantly changing. Until now it has not normally infected humans, but the latest form clearly does, and can be spread from person to person - probably through coughing and sneezing. What is new about this type of swine flu? The World Health Organization has confirmed that at least some of the human cases are a never-before-seen version of the H1N1 strain of influenza type A. H1N1 is the same strain which causes seasonal outbreaks of flu in humans on a regular basis. But this latest version of H1N1 is different: it contains genetic material that is typically found in strains of the virus that affect humans, birds and swine. Flu viruses have the ability to swap genetic components with each other, and it seems...