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.
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.