Swine Influenza in a nutshell

Influenza viruses are known to have a huge negative impact both in human and animal health as well as global economics. Pigs are commonly associated to these viruses as they are seen as a vehicle to the appearance of new subtypes, due to the possibility of being infected by swine, avian and human influenza viruses.
This investigation included an extensive literature review and a bibliometric analysis and considered publications from 1930 to 2020. Its aim was to assess the knowledge trends about swine influenza viruses and, therefore, serve as a guidance for future research.
2009 was, undeniably, the year when publications peaked, corresponding to the human H1N1 influenza pandemic, caused by the same agent responsible for the Spanish flu (1918). It was also curious to notice that the research about swine influenza started to rise in the seventies, coinciding with the Hong Kong ‘s H3N2 outbreak.
Most of the publications done in the analyzed period were from the USA, country which also had the broadest collaboration network. Interestingly, a scientific growth in BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China) economies was also noticed. The most studied subtypes, both in swine and humans, were H1N1 followed by H3N2.
It became clear that diseases events related to humankind can be directly corelated to increases of published papers, not only about humans but also considering other species – swine were the most studied, followed by humans, mice and ferrets. Furthermore, the lack of reference to the genomic sequencing in 75% of the studies highlights the need to guarantee that further investigations must use the complete nomenclature to avoid bias (particularly evident in publications related to 2009’s peak).

Frias-De-Diego, A. et al. (2020). A Century of Swine Influenza: Is It Really Just about the Pigs?. Veterinary Sciences, 7, 189; doi:10.3390/vetsci7040189