About Swine Flu Swine flu is a Type A influenza virus which causes regular outbreaks of flu in pigs, but is rarely fatal. In the past. swine flu has not normally affected humans, although there have been a few cases reported in people with direct exposure to pigs or in those who have been near pigs. From December 2005 to February 2009, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 12 cases of human infection with swine flu. In late April 2009, the outbreak of more than a thousand cases of swine flu in humans in Mexico, and a suspected 86 deaths, as well as another 11 cases confirmed in the United States, led the World Health Organization to say that the outbreak has "pandemic potential" and to urge all countries to increase their reporting and surveillance of influenza and to be on high alert for any unusual patterns. On April 26, 2009, Six Cases Of Swine Flu In Humans Were Reported In Canada - Four In Students In Nova Scotia, And Two In British Columbia