CHICAGO (Reuters) – A strain of H5N1 bird flu has been found in a pig on a backyard farm in Oregon, the country’s first reported detection of the virus in pigs, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Wednesday.
Pigs are the cause of the H1N1 flu pandemic, and are believed to be the source of others, said Richard Webby, a virologist at St.
The discovery of this virus in a small farm makes the disease of pigs irrelevant if it was found in a pig farm, he said.
“I think it doesn’t increase the risk much, but certainly, if the virus starts to spread to pigs, that increases the risk,” he said.
