Is “Swine Flu” Linked To Pigs?
To answer that question the United Nations’ food agency is sending its animal health experts to Mexico to check if the new strain of flu virus, popularized as swine flu, is in reality directly linked to pigs.
“At present, transmission seems to be occurring solely from humans to humans,” said the Food and Agriculture Organization.
“So far evidence that the new strain of influenza A virus has entered the human population directly from pigs has not been established,” the Rome-based U.N. body said in a statement.
Despite advice that the virus is not caught from eating pork products, report Reuters, several countries have banned pork imports from the United States, where 50 infected people have been found.
Animal health officials suggest it should not be termed “swine flu” because it has avian and human components, and thus far no pig been found with the disease.
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