cannot infect humans, common sense and past history shows that Pigs
can infect humans.
There is no evidence yet because they are not looking for it.
Similar for the case of pigs getting infected by humans.
The worst are the ones in Mexico. They started it and yet nothing is
done to stop it.
Egypt has done the right thing by culling all pigs in that country.
If you want to be safe, kill all pigs in your country. Failing which,
you'd better kill all where there are cases of swine flu detected, as
had been done in Malaysia a few times already.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iMEVmxTOZhCOoN3yDxx0HjaZl0jgD97UE9CG3
Canada: 1st pigs found with new swine flu virus
By CHARMAINE NORONHA – 58 minutes ago
OTTAWA (AP) — Pigs on a Canadian farm have been infected with the new
swine flu virus — apparently by a farm worker back from Mexico — and
are under quarantine, officials said Saturday. It is the first known
case of pigs having the virus.
But officials quickly urged caution. Swine flu regularly causes
outbreaks in pigs, and the pigs do not pose a food safety risk, Dr.
Brian Evans, executive vice president with the Canadian Food
Inspection Agency, told a news conference.
The officials said the pigs in the province of Alberta were thought to
be infected by a Canadian farm worker who recently visited Mexico and
got sick after returning to Canada.
The traveler has recovered, and the estimated 200 sickened pigs are
recovering as well, officials said. No pigs have died, and officials
said they don't think the flu has spread beyond the farm.
Normally, detecting influenza in pigs would not generate a response
from food safety officials, but the current circumstances are
different with the international flu outbreak, Evans said.
"The chance that these pigs could transfer virus to a person is
remote," he said, adding that he would have no issue eating pork from
the infected pigs.
The World Health Organization has insisted there is no evidence that
pigs are passing the virus to humans, or that eating pork products
poses an infection risk.
And the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture and World Health Organization,
along with the WTO and the World Organization for Animal Health,
issued a joint statement Saturday saying there's no justification for
any anti-pork trade measures as a result of the swine flu epidemic
since there is no evidence the virus is spread by food.
The statement was the most emphatic yet from the United Nations and
other agencies on the issue.
The statement came after major American pork importers like Russia and
China banned pork products from certain U.S. states as the new swine
flu spread. Indonesia, Ukraine and the Philippines and Serbia have
banned certain pork products from the entire country.
Canadian officials called such measures unwarranted.
The pigs in Alberta were thought to be infected by a farm worker who
returned from Mexico on April 12 and began working on the farm two
days later. Officials noticed the pigs had flu-like symptoms April 24,
Evans said.
Approximately 10 percent of the 2,200 pigs on the farm have been
infected, Evans said.
Officials said the pigs were likely infected in the same manner as
humans worldwide, and that the virus is acting no differently in the
pigs than other swine flu viruses.
"Whatever virus these pigs were exposed to is behaving in that exact
manner as those we regularly see circulating in North America and in
swine herds in virtually every nation around the world," Evans said.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
studies have shown that swine flu is common throughout pig populations
worldwide, with 25 percent of animals showing antibody evidence of
infection.
The new virus has shown no signs of mutation when passing from human
to pig, Evans said.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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