May
18
Bird flu in Sumatran pigs is concerning news
Filed Under Bird Flu
Just when bird flu news was settling down into some sort of routine, along comes the news that pigs in Sumatra have tested positive for the H5N1 virus.
Not humans, pigs - so why the concern?
Pigs are often quoted as being the “mixing bowl” where the H5N1 bird virus can intermingle with a human influenza virus to create a mutant strain that is transmissable between humans. The fact that H5N1 has now been found in the “mixing bowl” is a major concern, to say the least.
There is a chance that this is the catalyst that could trigger a global bird flu pandemic, but of course, there is just as much chance that a variant strain emerging from the “mixing bowl” could also be non pathogenic or of low pathogenicity ie not very harmful to humans.
Of course no variant strain may emerge from the pigs in Sumatra, howwever the fact that there is a cluster of human fatalities from H5N1 bird flu nearby, raises its own concerns. The World Health Organisation cannot, at this time, rule out the possibility that these victims caught the disease from each other ie the H5N1 virus was transmitted from human to human.
Its too early to get a clear picture about what is happening in Sumatra, but these snippetts of news seem to me, to move the bird flu story along a bit further - in a direction that could be concerning.
