GC: n
S: MAYO – https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/swine-flu/symptoms-causes/syc-20378103 (last access: 19 October 2024); CDC – https://www.cdc.gov/swine-flu/about/influenza-in-swine.html (last access: 19 October 2024).
N: 1. – swine (n): Old English swin “domestic pig, hog, sow; wild boar” (commonly used in a plural sense, of such animals collectively), from Proto-Germanic *sweina– (source also of Old Saxon, Old Frisian Middle Low German, Old High German swin, Middle Dutch swijn, Dutch zwijn, German Schwein, Old Norse, Swedish, Danish svin), neuter adjective (with suffix *-ino-). This is from PIE *su- “pig” (see sow (n.)).
The native word, it has been largely ousted by pig (n.1). Applied to persons from late 14c., “mean or degraded, sensual and coarse.” The phrase pearls before swine (mid-14c.) is from Matthew vii.6.
The Latin word in the Gospel verse was confused in French with marguerite “daisy” (the “pearl” of the field), and in Dutch the expression became “roses before swine.” Swine-drunk is from 1590s (Nashe). Swine–flu is attested from 1921. Earlier terms for infectious pig diseases include swine-plague (1891); swine-pox was originally “chicken pox” (1520s); it is attested from 1764 as a disease of swine.
– flu (n): 1839, flue, shortening of influenza. Spelling flu attested from 1893. The abstraction of the middle syllable is an uncommon method of shortening words in English; Weekley compares tec for detective, scrip for subscription.
2. Also known as: hog flu, pig flu, swine influenza.
- swine flu, a respiratory disease of pigs that is caused by an influenza virus. The first flu virus isolated from pigs was influenza A H1N1 in 1930. This virus is a subtype of influenza that is named for the composition of the proteins hemagglutinin (H) and neuraminidase (N) that form its viral coat. Since the 1930s three other subtypes of flu viruses also have been isolated from pigs, including H1N2, H3N1, and H3N2. The emergence of H3N2 in pigs occurred in the late 1990s and is suspected of having been transmitted to pigs from humans. Although swine influenza viruses are similar to the influenza viruses that circulate among humans, swine viruses possess distinct antigens (molecules that induce an immune response).
3. Symptoms and transmission
Between 25 and 30 percent of pigs worldwide carry antibodies to swine influenza viruses, which indicates that these animals have been exposed to swine flu. The disease is endemic in pigs in the United States, and in some regions of that country more than 50 percent of pigs carry antibodies to swine influenza viruses. Infection with any of these viruses causes a flulike illness in pigs, which typically occurs in the fall and early winter. Symptoms of infection include coughing (barking), fever, and nasal discharge, and illness generally lasts about a week.
The virus is spread rapidly among pigs and is easily spread to birds and humans who come into contact with the pigs or contaminated food or bedding or who inhale infectious particles in the air. Humans infected with swine influenza virus may experience fever and mild respiratory symptoms, such as coughing, runny nose, and congestion. Some persons experience diarrhea, chills, and vomiting. Swine influenza virus rarely causes death in humans.
4. Animal Diseases: swine flu, swine influenza, hog influenza, hog-flu.
- A contagious upper-respiratory disease of pigs caused by an influenza virus and a concurrent infection with Haemophilus influenzae. Symptoms include fever, stiffness, recumbency, laboured breathing, sneezing, paroxysmal cough, and nasal and ocular discharge.
5. Viral Diseases: influenza A (H1N1), swine flu, H1N1 flu, human swine flu.
- A respiratory infection caused by an influenza virus first recognized in spring 2009 and that contains genetic material from human, swine and avian flu viruses.
- Influenza A (H1N1) is made up of hemagglutinin type 1 (H1) and neuraminidase type 1 (N1) glycoproteins.
- There is a space between the “A” of “influenza A (H1N1)” and the parenthesis.
S: 1. Etymonline – https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=swine+flu (last access: 19 October 2024). 2 & 3. EncBrit – https://www.britannica.com/science/swine-flu (last access: 19 October 2024). 4 & 5. TERMIUM PLUS – https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2alpha/alpha-eng.html?lang=eng&i=1&srchtxt=swine+flu&index=alt&codom2nd_wet=1#resultrecs (last access: 19 October 2024).
SYN: swine influenza, porcine influenza, porcine flu, pig influenza, pig flu, hog influenza, hog flu. (depending on context)
S: GDT – https://vitrinelinguistique.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca/fiche-gdt/fiche/8356254/grippe-porcine (last access: 19 October 2024)
