WHO warns on meat and blood of AH1N1-infected pigs
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday (May 6) has warned consumers not to eat meat and blood of AH1N1-infected pigs, as it draws guidelines to protect workers that are handling contaminated animals.
The WHO said it was possible for flu strains to survive the freezing process and be present in thawed meat, as well as in blood.
Jorgen Schlundt, director of WHO's Department of Food Safety, Zoonoses and Foodborne Diseases however said that that there are no data available on the survival of A1H1N1 on meat nor any data on its transmission dose to people with regard to respiratory secretions and blood of infected pigs.
Schlundt warned people to be cautious with blood and meat-juices from AH1N1-infected pigs, stating "the likelihood of influenza viruses to be in the blood of an infected animal depends on the specific virus". He added that "blood (and meat-juice) from influenza AH1N1-infected pigs may potentially contain virus, but at present, this has not been established."
He advised people who come in close contact with large amounts of blood and secretions such as slaughtering and eviscerating pigs to wear appropriate protective equipment.
The new AH1N1 flu virus is being transmitted from person to person, not from pigs to people.
But its global spread has prompted many countries to limit pork imports, with 20 governments imposing import bans on live pigs and meat from affected countries to prevent exposure to the virus. Such fears increased after Canadian authorities said on Saturday a herd of swine was infected by a farmer who had returned from Mexico.
The WHO said 22 countries have officially reported 1,534 cases of the flu virus.
While health officials say the outbreak appears to be slowing down in Mexico, authorities everywhere are asking how far the virus would spread and how serious it would be.
US officials confirmed that a Texas woman with the AH1N1 swine flu virus died earlier this week, the second death outside Mexico. Last week, a Mexican toddler visiting Texas died. Mexican officials have reported 29 confirmed deaths.
While the new virus is mainly spread from person to person through coughing and sneezing, experts do not know for sure how this virus came to be, which animal passed it to the first human patient and when that occurred.
But the case of the farmer infecting the pigs in Canada fuelled fears of the virus yet again jumping the species barrier -- this time from pig to human -- and possibly becoming more virulent in the process.
Joseph Domenech, FAO chief veterinary officer, said on Tuesday that the new strain "does not contaminate humans easily and has a very low pathogenicity for both humans and pigs, unlike the avian flu which killed millions of poultry."
Alex Thiermann, senior adviser to the OIE's director-general, said there was no difference between raw and cooked meat in terms of AH1N1 transmission risks.
