Swine influenza is a disease normally spread amongst pigs. The virus which is being spread amongst humans is called swine influenza A (H1N1), or swine flu or pig flu if you prefer. The exact origin of this disease is still unknown. There have been no reported cases of the disease being circulated in pigs in the UK.

Swine flu is a respiratory disease that infects pigs and outbreaks of swine flu are quite common. It doesn't normally infect humans, but does occasionally happen if someone has close contact with infected pigs, such as farmers. The new 2009 outbreak of swine flu has been spread from person to person.

The current swine influenza infection has been confirmed in humans in the USA, Canada, the UK and other countries.

The concern is that the outbreak could become a pandemic, this is an outbreak of flu that spreads quickly around the world because it is a new virus and few people have resistance to it. If this happens then the wearing of face masks will probably be recommended.