Swine Flu Detected In Turkeys

Swine Flu among Turkeys

In a worrying new development, the H1N1 Swine Flu virus has been detected in turkeys in certain areas of the South American country of Chile.

The virus, which some experts claim originated from pigs, is now spreading principally from human to human, and this is the first instance of any other kind of animals testing positive for the virus according to a report by Reuters.

There is in fact a dispute as regards the claim that pigs transmitted the virus to humans in the first place. According to the report, the possibility of the virus being the H5N1 or the Bird Flu virus has been ruled out.

As of now, the World Health Organisation has the following numbers to report as regards the status of the H1N1 swine flu pandemic:

• This is a full fledged worldwide pandemic as declared in June 2009
• It has now spread to 180 counties
• There have been 1,462 laboratory confirmed deaths so far that have resulted from the swine flu virus
• The pandemic is unstoppable
• There are 1 million people infected in the US according to some experts
• So far there have been  47 deaths from the virus in India

A later Reuters report has said that there is nothing alarming about the outbreak of the virus among turkeys. These cases are minor compared to the pandemic amongst humans.

As of now, the virus has been detected in just two farms outside of Chilean capital Santiago. This is an isolated incident that seems to have little bearing on the big picture as of now. This is not surprising either, the virus contains human, pig and avian strains, and since there are as many as 12,175 people in the country which resulted in 128 deaths.

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