Deadly avian influenza is first found in pigs in China

Lead: Beijing reported Thursday that China has confirmed the discovery of the deadly bird flu virus in pigs for the first time, a situation that may affect people's efforts to limit the spread of bird flu to humans Chen Hualan, director of China Avian Influenza Reference Laboratory, said at an international medical seminar in Beijing that researchers had found highly lethal H5N1 avian influenza virus in pigs last year and this year, one of which is reported to be located in Fujian Province Officials from the U.N Health Organization and the food and Agriculture Organization say the Chinese government has yet to report the findings and is actively seeking confirmation "It is very important that we found the virus in different parts of the mainland last year and this year, which is a very serious signal for public health," Ms Chen Hualan said at the international SARS and avian influenza prevention and Control Seminar The scientist later told reporters that H5N1 was found in pigs on farms in Southeast China's Fujian Province in 2003 and in another farm in 2004 Chen said it was not only the first time China has detected the bird flu virus from pigs, but also the first time in the world H5N1 is the deadliest strain of bird flu, killing 27 people in Asia this year Officials from the U.N World Health Organization and the food and Agriculture Organization said they also learned for the first time from Chen's speech that bird flu can spread to pigs Who spokesman Roy Wadia said there had been early warnings that this could happen We are not shocked at the moment, but we need to know more details If confirmed, it means a new change in the spread of avian influenza Scientists have warned that if avian influenza is transmitted to pigs, it will mutate into more virulent strains and spread more easily to humans, because the virus can complete gene recombination in pigs The world food and Agriculture Organization official said that previously only bird flu was found in birds Although it was suspected that pigs were carrying the virus in the past, there was no official report Thailand, Vietnam and China have all recently confirmed the emergence of new avian influenza viruses in poultry populations At the beginning of this year, the outbreak of avian influenza virus in Asia caused millions of birds to be culled, bringing a devastating blow to the poultry industry Malaysia reported an outbreak of bird flu at the beginning of last week and is doing its best to contain the spread of bird flu Julie hol, who's Beijing coordinator for infectious disease surveillance and response, urged China and other countries to be alert to the worst Dr Hall said that if the avian influenza virus changes significantly and can be more easily transmitted from animals to humans, then we need to further strengthen the prevention and control of avian influenza Chen declined to say how China would respond to an outbreak of bird flu in pigs or whether pigs infected with the virus had been slaughtered She said there is no human infection with bird flu Agriculture officials did not immediately comment FAO hopes Chen's reference laboratory for avian influenza can show whether the pigs are indeed infected with the virus or contaminated by poultry from the same farm According to Juan luporos, animal health official at the FAO's infectious diseases center in Rome, the problem would not be serious if the virus was found from the nose and other surface organs of the body If the virus is found in the lungs and other internal organs, especially in the internal organs of a sick pig, the problem will be very serious.