July 27, 2005

UN FAO says no evidence pigs linked to bird flu outbreaks
 

The UN Food and Agricultural Organization said that there was no evidence to suggest that pigs contributed to bird flu outbreaks. Instead, affected countries should focus their containment efforts on poultry.

While there have been past reports from China, Vietnam and Indonesia that the bird flu virus was identified in pigs, the FAO said there was no evidence that the pigs were diseased or infected by the virus.

The FAO's comments also raised questions about Indonesia's decision to cull 18 pigs that were reportedly infected with the H5N1 strain of the virus, following the recent outbreaks in the country.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian government said that the culling of infected pigs would continue.

Earlier this year, an Indonesian scientist reportedly detected H5N1 in blood samples taken from pigs, which were genetically similar to humans and often carried the human influenza virus. This raised expert concerns that the bird flu virus might mutate in pigs into a more deadly strain that could spread easily between humans.

In response, the FAO suggested that farmers should keep species separated, rather than mass culling their pigs.