How many people died of Swine Flu from 1970-2008?

Answer 1

All cases may not have been identified or tested to confirm the specific strain of influenza, but of the cases that are reported as due to "Swine Flu" in humans from 1970 through 2008, there have been only two deaths.

The most famous early swine flu outbreak in humans was in 1976 at Fort Dix, New Jersey where four soldiers who were previously healthy contracted the virus and developed pneumonia diagnosed by X-ray with other symptoms of the flu. One died as a result. The virus was thought to have circulated approximately a month in the close quarters of the group in basic training but not outside the group, then it disappeared.

In the fall of 1988, a previously healthy 32-year-old pregnant woman was hospitalized for pneumonia and died 8 days later. A swine H1N1 flu virus was detected. Four days before getting sick, the patient visited a county fair swine exhibition where there was widespread influenza-like illness among the swine.

The next reported swine flu death began in 2009 with the first death in Mexico of the A-H1N1/09 strain of the virus. Maria Adela Gutierrez, a 39-year old woman in the southern tourist city of Oaxaca in Mexico died in March 2009.

Answer 2

100