Beware: Swine Flu in Birds
Posted on Aug 28, 2009 by Reena Daruwalla | Comments 0
It was bad enough that we had to keep track of SARS and then the bird flu, the regular flu and now Swine Flu, but now we apparently also have to be careful that the birds also catch the pig flu! Confused? Well the BBC reports that the United Nations has warned against the spread of the H1N1 Swine flu virus among birds which in any case includes strains of regular flu, bird flu as well as swine flu. The recent detection of swine flu among Chilean farm fowl has brought this concern to the fore.
The fear is that this current strain of the virus, if it spreads to birds will mix with more dangerous strains. According to the BCC, the emergence of a more dangerous strain of flu remains a theoretical risk.
Different strains of virus can mix together in a process called genetic re-assortment or recombination. It has been made clear that this is not bird flu, or the H5 N1 virus among the Chilean birds. Reportedly in south east Asia there is currently quite a bit of bird flu going around and if the swine flu was introduced into the scheme of things this could produce a dangerous cocktail is the worry.
Authorities monitoring the situation closely and are hoping the infection in Chile is a rarity. It is not just about the H5N1 strain. Any further spread of the H1N1 virus between birds, or from birds to humans would not be good. It might make the virus harder to control, because it would be more likely to change,” said an expert for the Institute of Animal Health in the UK.
This mutability of the Swine flu virus is one of the chief reasons that it is feared all over the world. The fact that it has the ability to move between species and recombine and reconstitute itself is what makes it more worrying and dangerous than other strains of the flu virus.
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Posted in: H1N1 • Swine Flu News
