Bird flu continues to spread rapidly around the world, wreaking havoc on our planet's avian populations and more recently infecting mammals like seals and dairy cows. Now, for the first time, the H5N1 virus has been detected in a pig in the US. Veuer’s Tony Spitz has the details.
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00:00Bird flu continues to spread rapidly around the world wreaking havoc on our
00:04planet's avian populations and more recently infecting mammals like seals
00:08and dairy cows. Now for the first time the H5N1 virus has been detected in a
00:13pig in the US. The pig was first identified on October 29th in Oregon
00:18less than a week after a chicken was found to have the disease on the same
00:21farm. The US Department of Agriculture released a statement after the diagnosis
00:25explaining that the farm is a non-commercial operation and the animals
00:29were not intended for the commercial food supply. Adding that there is no
00:33concern about the safety of the nation's pork supply as a result of this finding.
00:37The H5N1 positive pig as well as four others on the farm were all euthanized
00:41to prevent the illness spreading to other pig populations or perhaps other
00:45species. Because farm equipment, housing areas and water sources are often shared
00:49between animals on farms, the one in question has now been quarantined. This
00:53is just the latest case of avian flu jumping to mammals. Something health
00:57officials say is concerning. The more mammals bird flu infects, the more
01:00chances it has to mutate. Possibly making it more suitable for human transmission
01:05and causing another pandemic.