Bird flu virus detected in pig for the first time in US

The H5N1 bird flu virus has been detected in a pig on a domestic farm in Oregon, the first such case in the country, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Wednesday, October 30, Reuters reports.

Pigs pose a particular risk for the spread of bird flu because they can become infected with both bird and human viruses at the same time. The viruses could swap genes to form a new, more dangerous virus that can infect humans more quickly.

The department said there is no risk to Oregon's pork supply if the disease occurs, and that the risk to the public remains low.

Pigs were the source of the 2009-2010 H1N1 flu pandemic, said Richard Webby, a virologist at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital who studies influenza in animals and birds for the World Health Organization.

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Finding the virus on a small farm makes it less dangerous for pigs to be infected than if it were found on a commercial farm, he said.

The Oregon farm has been quarantined and other animals, including sheep and goats, are being monitored, the department said.

The pigs were infected by wild birds, not a poultry farm or dairy farm, a department spokesman said. Migrating wild birds have spread bird flu to flocks of poultry and cattle.

The case is one of several factors that prompted the department to expand its bird flu surveillance to include nationwide testing of milk, the department said Wednesday.

The pigs on the Oregon farm were not intended for commercial food supply, the department said.

This year, 36 people have tested positive for bird flu in the U.S., while the virus has spread to nearly 400 dairy herds. All but one of the people who fell ill were farm workers who had contact with infected animals.

By Sergey Daga