Swine flu now transmitted to pigs - Another operating system infected

We are now getting reports of the virus having been transmitted from humans to pigs. This is a significant development as it means that another "device" on the network can spread the virus. It is akin to a computer virus, hoping into another operating system and being able to infect machines of the original operating system and the new one.

Reports on the various news vendors are that in Canada the official influenza A (H1N1) — had been found on a farm in Alberta and that the pigs had been quarantined. Can the virus then spread from pigs to humans? It would be fairly logical to assume that it may certainly be possible, as evidence in similar swine flus show that pig to human transmission occurs.

Canadian health officials, meanwhile, said Saturday that the virus — officially influenza A (H1N1) — had been found in a small herd of pigs in Alberta and that the pigs had been quarantined. It marked the first time the new virus has been discovered in animals, even though swine-flu viruses are common. Officials believe the pigs were infected by a Canadian farmworker who visited Mexico and fell ill after returning home. Dr. Brian Evans, executive vice president with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, told a news conference, "The chance that these pigs could transfer virus to a person is remote..".

Now one has to ask how he can make a statement such as that and not back it up with anything? I guess his point has some validity seeing as this case was detected 5 days ago and all the pgis have recovered. However it is misleading. it is misleading as to anyone reading it, it makes one infer that the possibility of pigs infecting someone are remote. Seeing as this is a new strain and we are seeing it transferred from humans to pigs for the first time, we cannot say that it cannot transmit from pigs to humans. These kind of misleading comments in reports really frustrate me. They are easy to swallow but a little thinking on this issue will lead any reasonable person to determine that the statement has a point, but it is not made to emphasise the point.

Other interesting things that this story are showing are an infection ratio, the first I have seen one. It is reported that about 10 percent of the 2,200 pigs on the farm got sick. In that type of population it shows a 10% infection rate. Whether this was a caged or more free range pig farm, I do not know, however it is the first seemingly contained population that we have observed the virus in. There was a 100% recovery rate in 5 days. Until Saturday, no pigs had been found with the virus. About 10 percent of the 2,200 pigs on the farm got sick. According to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, all recovered without treatment in five days. The worker also recovered that infected the pigs also recovered, they kept that very quiet, perhaps understandably.

And another piece from Fort Mill Times - "The pigs in Alberta were thought to be infected by a farm worker who returned from Mexico on April 12 and began working on the farm two days later. Officials noticed the pigs had flu-like symptoms April 24, Evans said. Approximately 10 percent of the 2,200 pigs on the farm have been infected, Evans said. Officials said the pigs were likely infected in the same manner as humans worldwide, and that the virus is acting no differently in the pigs than other swine flu viruses. "Whatever virus these pigs were exposed to is behaving in that exact manner as those we regularly see circulating in North America and in swine herds in virtually every nation around the world," Evans said.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, studies have shown that swine flu is common throughout pig populations worldwide, with 25 percent of animals showing antibody evidence of infection. Nothing here suggests any cause for concern, other than the fact that the virus have a new evolutionary path in pigs now and can be transmitted from people to pigs. It is about the number of new possibilities that the virus has in the Sus genus, if this is an isolated case which it may be. It is fairly reasonable to say that in all probability it will not be (unless the virus weakens) due to the geographic distribution of the virus now, therefore we will probably be watched its evolution in TWO species now and if that has bridged that transmission gap once, we must accept their may therefore be a higher probability that even with a single mutation it may be able to do that again. If any mutation that occurs is not related to the actual transmission mechanism structure of the virus, then it is reasonable to think that it could come back from pigs again changed. Which in essence is true or all viruses.

If this is not a killer pandemic, the distribution of realtime information has at least in this instance shown us how susceptable we are to a pandemic.