Avian flu was first discovered in pigs

H5N1 bird flu It was detected in a pig in the United States for the first time – this is what the American Ministry of Agriculture updated last night (Wednesday). The case happened in the state of Oregon, on a farm where poultry and animals lived, including pigs.Although the other pigs on the same farm showed no signs of illness, as an act of caution, the Oregon Department of Health and the US Department of Agriculture tested them as well, at which time one of the pigs was found to be positive for the virus and two were found to be negative. The test results for the remaining two pigs have not yet been received. “The animals and birds shared water sources, habitats and equipment. This combination allowed transmission between species,” the press release said.

 

“Disturbing findings”

 

Prof. Cyril Cohen, head of the immunotherapy laboratory at Bar-Ilan University, refers to the publication, and says that these are alarming findings. “Pigs are a breeding ground for viruses – they themselves become infected with different strains of influenza. It is true that a number of people have already been found to have contracted bird flu after direct contact, but the fear now is that the virus will undergo changes in the pig, and perhaps even combine with other strains of influenza that the pigs contract. Thus In fact, more violent strains may be created that will endanger public health.”

 

 

 

The professor explains that the more a virus spreads between different species, it is able to acquire new properties that will allow it to infect different species, including humans, in a wider way in the future and cause the strain to spread.

Bird flu has been troubling US authorities for the past year. Since March, outbreaks of the H5N1 strain have been reported In over a hundred cattle herds in different states of the country, and it was even reported that a number of people were infected with the virus after being in direct contact with cows or poultry infected with the disease. Last month we reported that six medical staff members in Missouri who treated a bird flu patient themselves developed mild respiratory symptoms after exposure, but according to a statement from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), these were found to be negative for the bird flu virus and no evidence was found of the virus being transmitted between humans.

In Israel, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security has located in recent weeks a number of outbreaks of avian influenza in different poultry houses throughout the country. However, there is still no evidence of the virus developing in humans.