United States finds first domestically infected pigs with H5N1 bird flu: InfoQuest

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) said the H5N1 bird flu virus was found in a pig at a small farm in Oregon. It is believed to be a first in the United States. that such a virus has been found in pigs

Reuters news agency said that pigs can pick up the virus from humans and birds. Therefore, there can be a mixture of germs from humans and animals. As a result, the virus has a chance to mutate into a new, more dangerous virus that people can catch more easily.

The USDA said the Oregon case does not pose a threat to the US pork supply. And the risk of people getting infected with bird flu is still low.

Richard Webbe, an epidemiologist at St Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital who studies animal and bird flu for the World Health Organization (WHO), said pigs were the cause of the flu outbreak. large H1N1 in 2009-2010 and that it has been there too. associated with outbreaks of other influenza strains as well.

However, he noted that the detection of the virus on small farms is not as worrying as the detection of the virus on commercial farms.

The USDA reports that the farm is in quarantine and closely monitoring other animals. including sheep and goats Pigs and chickens are being killed on the farm to prevent the spread of the virus. and be able to examine additional pigs

By InfoQuest News Group (31 Oct ’24)

Tags: H5N1, United States, bird flu