The World Health Organisation (WHO) is investigating evidence that pigs have contracted a highly infectious strain of bird flu, the first time such transmission has been noted.
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It has sent scientists to China’s Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, to examine claims that pigs from Chinese farms have been infected with the H5N1 strain.
The WHO said: “This would increase opportunities for the emergence of a new human influenza virus with pandemic potential”. H5N1 has already killed two-dozen people in Asia and caused the deaths of more than 100 million birds. The WHO fears pigs could catch human and bird flu simultaneously, creating a new strain transmitted from person to person.
