Indonesia Finds Bird Flu in Pigs

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Indonesian researchers have found a strain of bird flu in pigs on the densely populated island of Java, raising fears the virus could more easily spread to humans, the government and scientists said Saturday.

The scientist who made the discovery identified the strain found in the pigs as H5N1, the same version of the virus that has jumped from chickens to humans elsewhere in Southeast Asia, killing 36 in Vietnam, 12 in Thailand and four from Cambodia.

Until now, human infections have been traced to direct contact with infected poultry or poultry waste, and millions of chickens and other fowl have been slaughtered in attempts to stem the disease. But last fall, the World Health Organization urged scientists to examine other mammals, in particular pigs.

Pigs, which are genetically similar to people, often carry the human influenza virus. Experts worry that pigs infected with both bird flu and its human equivalent could act as a "mixing bowl," resulting in a more dangerous, mutant virus that might spread to people more easily - and then from person to person.

They fear that could fuel a devastating flu outbreak, vastly exceeding the current annual death toll from human influenza, which kills 500,000 to one million people around the world each year.

Last year, Chinese scientists announced they had found the virus in pigs. But some experts were skeptical, saying it was unclear whether the animals were truly infected or merely had traces on their skin or snouts.

C.A. Nidom, the university researcher who discovered the infection in pigs, said he had found the virus in the blood of 10 pigs out of 20 he checked. A laboratory in Tokyo conducted the tests, he said.

"I found it in the snout to begin with, but I was doubtful whether this meant they were truly infected," he said in a telephone interview. "So I then proved it by finding a matching strain in the blood."

Dr. Nana Supriatna, an expert at the Ministry of Agriculture, confirmed the discovery but declined to give any more details. He said officials were meeting Saturday to discuss the development.

Nidom said the samples were taken from pigs living 100 yards away from a chicken farm on Java island that was struck by bird flu last year. None of the pigs showed any signs of illnesses, he said.

"I was just curious to see how far this virus could go," said Nidom, who works at a state-run university in the Javanese city of Surabaya.

Indonesia has yet to report any case of humans contracting bird flu, but has reported scores of outbreaks at chicken farms around the sprawling archipelago. Java island is home to more than half of the country's 210 million people.

Source: Associated Press/AP Online. Taken from RedNova News