A pig in Oregon has tested positive for H5N1 avian influenza, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said Wednesday.
The press release said the infected pigs were produced in a backyard farm with “a mix of poultry and livestock.”
The USDA National Veterinary Services Laboratory confirmed this was the “first detection of H5N1 in pigs” in the United States.
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“Livestock and poultry on this farm shared water sources, housing, and equipment. In other states, this combination has enabled transmission between species,” the release states.
A pig in Oregon (not pictured) has tested positive for H5N1 avian influenza, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Wednesday. (St. Petersburg)
The infected pig showed no symptoms of the disease, but was tested along with four other pigs out of an “abundance of caution” after other pigs on the farm tested positive.
“There are no concerns about the safety of the domestic pork supply as a result of this finding.”
Two of the other five pigs tested negative and two were still awaiting results.
“This farm is a non-commercial operation and the animals are not intended for commercial food supply,” the USDA said.
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“There are no concerns about the safety of the domestic pork supply as a result of this discovery.”
The farm has been quarantined to prevent further spread of avian influenza, and other animals are being monitored, according to the USDA.
Doctor will consider
Dr. Mark Siegel, professor of clinical medicine at New York University Langone Health and senior medical analyst for Fox News, said cows are “now definitely a reservoir of H5N1.”
“It doesn’t matter that the pigs are alone, except for two things: how many other pigs are out there that we don’t know about, and pigs are a mixing vessel for the flu,” he told Fox News Digital. That’s what I mean.”
The press release said the infected pigs (not pictured) were kept in a backyard “mixed poultry and livestock” farm. (St. Petersburg)
The doctor warned that “several different types of influenza can be present in pigs at any given time, and they can exchange genetic material and create new strains.”
Although the 2009 H1N1 pandemic was “mild by pandemic standards,” it did involve swine flu, Siegel noted.
The doctor added: “I would be concerned if it continues to spread to the pig population.”
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Dr. Benjamin Anderson, an assistant professor in the University of Florida’s Department of Environmental and Global Health, said while this appears to be an isolated incident, there is still “a cause for concern.”
The doctor echoed Siegel’s concerns that pigs are known as a “mixing vessel” for influenza A viruses “because they can be infected with avian and human influenza virus strains.”
“There can be multiple different types of influenza present in pigs at any given time, and they can exchange genetic material and give rise to new strains,” the doctor warned. (St. Petersburg)
“If H5N1, an avian influenza virus, is regularly transmitted between pigs, the biggest concern is that genetic material from other influenza virus strains circulating in pigs could recombine with H5N1 and That means they could create new progeny viruses that are more contagious,” Anderson told Fox News Digital.
The doctor said the fact that none of the five pigs on the farm had any clinical symptoms was also a cause for concern in terms of monitoring.
“It’s clear that we have a serious H5N1 problem in the United States, and it’s not going to go away anytime soon.”
“Most of the H5N1 testing that has been done on farms to date has only been done for clinical outbreaks,” he said.
“If the virus is causing subclinical (mild) or asymptomatic (asymptomatic) infection in other livestock, they may not be infected without ongoing regular testing.”
Factors that reduce risk
Samuel Scarpino, director of AI and life sciences and professor of health sciences at Northeastern University in Boston, said there are two factors that could reduce the risk of the pigs becoming infected with avian influenza.
“First, the H5N1 virus that infected the pigs in Oregon likely originated from infected birds, not from an infected dairy farm runoff,” he told Fox News Digital.
Experts noted that there are two main strains of H5N1 currently circulating in the United States, one in birds and one in dairy cows. (St. Petersburg)
“There are currently two main strains of H5N1 circulating in the United States, one in birds and one in dairy cows. We believe it may be more contagious to humans than the circulating H5N1 strain.”
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Second, the farms were not large, which meant there was less opportunity for transmission between pigs and for the virus to evolve, Scarpino noted.
“Additionally, the number of people working on farms who may have come into contact with infected animals has also been reduced,” he added.
Infectious disease experts say because farms are not large, there is less opportunity for infection between pigs and for the virus to evolve. (AP Photo/Vadim Gilda, File)
Despite these factors, experts further recommend that if there are pigs infected with highly pathogenic avian influenza, it is important to protect farm workers and ensure that they are not transmitting the virus to others. He continued that measures should be taken.
“Even if this virus did not originate from an infected dairy farm, it is clear that we have a serious H5N1 problem in the United States, and it is not going away anytime soon,” Scarpino warned. did.
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“We are also entering the normal seasonal influenza season, which will make rare H5N1 infections harder to detect.”
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Scarpino is calling on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state and local public health agencies to increase resources for influenza surveillance, including both laboratory and wastewater testing.
