Swine Flu outbreaks have occurred globally, possibly originating in 1889 or even 1847. Today, these worldwide outbreaks are known as the “descendants” of the 1918 Swine Flu, also known as the “Spanish Flu” or in today’s standards H1N1.

The first reported major global outbreak of the Swine Flu virus occurred between the years of 1918 and 1919 and infected a third of the worlds’ population. Between 30 and 50 million deaths were reported. According to some records, a related epidemic may have occurred in 1847 and 1889.

Another Swine Flu outbreak happened in 1976 when an army recruit from Fort Dix, NJ, died and four other soldiers were hospitalized. Panic and chaos spread throughout the U.S. and about 24 percent of the U.S. population was vaccinated.

The next related outbreak of the strain happened in the Phillippines in 2007 where there was a hog cholera red alert warning in the Manila region. This virus ended up spreading to backyard pig farms.

In the spring of 2009 in San Diego, CA, another outbreak occurred involving a virus similar to the one found among pigs in the U.S. and Europe. It is believed that the swine flu first transferred from infected pigs to humans, but studies today show that infection has occurred without contact with infected pigs, and spread from human to human by simply sneezing and coughing. The outbreak quickly spread throughout Asia, Europe and North America and seemed to only select young healthy adults ranging from 15-34 years of age first over the elderly or people with weakened immune systems.

Studies of the Swine Flu/H1N1 strain continue today. They have found that these outbreaks can be treated with antibiotics and anti-viral medication, so if you start sneezing, coughing, getting a fever, or sore throat, be sure to go to a health care practitioner near you.