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Glite Dictionary
🐷 Pig flu disease 🤒 Human flu virus
swine influenza

swine influenza

3.2
A flu illness in people caused by viruses that came from pigs, like H1N1
  • noun
  • /swaɪn ˌɪnflʊˈɛn zə/
  • Specialized
translation icon : gripe porcina
  • As I said before, the more endangered people by swine influenza are instead young adults, because they have strong immune systems that can then trigger the suicidal cytokine reaction.

Examples

  • Doctors are concerned about the rise of swine influenza cases during the flu season.

  • The outbreak of swine influenza in 2009 led to widespread public health campaigns to raise awareness.

  • The estimated attributable risk for GBS after swine influenza vaccination was slightly less than 1 case per 100,000 persons vaccinated (1, 3, 4).

    Academic text (2013)

  • Many hospitals prepared for an increase in patients suffering from swine influenza after the initial reports of the virus.

Synonyms

flu
vsswine influenza
354 1.0

A common contagious illness that causes fever, aches, and coughs

is the human disease linked to pig-origin type A viruses rather than general cases
influenza
vsswine influenza
  • Specialized
50 3.3

A contagious illness caused by a virus that gives fever, body aches, and cough

is the human illness caused specifically by pig-origin type A viruses
swine flu
vsswine influenza
  • Specialized
13 3.2

A disease from pigs that can spread to people and causes fever and cough

is a human respiratory illness caused by pig-origin type A viruses

Surface Forms

swine influenza singular
swine influenzas plural

Morphology

swine + influenza

The meaning is directly compositional: 'swine' (pig) + 'influenza' (flu) yields 'influenza originating in pigs' or a pig-derived strain, which a learner who knows both words can infer. This follows a common noun-noun compounding pattern found across languages, so a B1 learner knowing the constituents will readily understand it.

Etymology

Swine influenza was used for human cases when a flu virus that came from swine, meaning 'pigs', began to infect people, so doctors kept the name influenza to show its pig origin. That's why the phrase can also mean a human flu caused by pig-origin viruses.