foodconsumer.org: Swine flu throws a curve ball

Swine flu throws a curve ball
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admin on 07/10/2009 22:14:00
 
By Sheilah Downey
In a surreal scientific twist, researchers are now worried that humans may
infect pigs with the H1N1 flu virus. The kicker? Experiments are under way to
vaccinate swine against the flu.
"Although in the early stages of the swine flu pandemic there were worries that
humans would catch the virus from pigs, this has so far not been documented,"
said Dr. Thomas Vahlenkamp, in an article in Science Daily today, "and pigs and
other animals have not been involved in the current spread of A/H1N1 influenza
in humans."
Instead, said Vahlenkamp, the chances that the virus may instead be transmitted
from humans to pigs is becoming more likely.
The World Health Organization estimated that 94,512 cases of the virus hasve
thus far been reported, according to their latest figures.
With those numbers continuing to increase, said Vahlenkamp, there is now
something else for health officials to worry about.
"The prevention of human-to-pig transmissions should have a high priority," he
said, "in order to avoid involvement of pigs in the epidemiology of this
pandemic."
According to the study published yesterday in the Journal of General Virology,
Vahlenkamp and his team infected five pigs with the same strain of flu that is
causing the current pandemic. Within four days the virus had spread to three
uninfected pigs, said the researchers from the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut in
Greifswald-Insel Reims, Germany.
The scientists said that experiments are underway to determine if current
vaccines may be able to immunize the pigs to stop more spread of the disease.