Human spillover dangers grow as flu in pigs rises

Thursday, May 09, 2013 Scientists say flu infections are rising among pigs raised for slaughter on farms in south and southeastern China, which is also plagued by bird flu.And the risk of spillover to humans is "constant or growing," according to an author of a study published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Pigs are an important source of new human strains of influenza A, such as the 2009-10 H1N1 pandemic that emerged in Mexico and infected an estimated fifth of the world's population. Pigs can act as a "mixing vessel" in a process known as reassortment, brewing new flu strains from swine, poultry and human viruses in areas where they live in close proximity. Such new hybrids can be deadly - tens of millions of people died in flu pandemics in 1918, 1957 and 1968. The 2009 strain, though highly infectious, was about as lethal as the ordinary seasonal flu. China is in the grip of an H7N9 bird flu virus that has killed 27 people, mainly in the east, overlapping with the study area. An international team of experts analyzed data collected at an abattoir in Hong Kong over a 12-year period from 1998 to 2010, to learn more about the spread of flu among pigs. http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?we_cat=3&art_id=133556&sid=39632513&con_type=1&d_str=20130509&fc=4