The World Health Organization (WHO) said Friday there is not
enough evidence so far to prove that the bird flu virus infects
pigs.
WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib made the statement in response to
the Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) announcement of
detecting H5N1, the most infectious bird flu virus, in several pigs
in Vietnam.
Dick Thompson, a spokesman for WHO's communicable diseases
division, said FAO's conclusion is preliminary and it is too early
to make a final conclusion.
Earlier on Friday, an official of the FAO, Anton Rychener, said
pigs in and around Vietnam's capital city of Hanoi tested positive
for the H5N1 virus.
The finding is alarming because pigs, whose immune system is
similar to that in humans, can become a "mixing vessel" for the flu
virus and then infect people.
The bird flu has rapidly spread across half of the Asian
continent in 10 countries or regions and claimed 18 deaths since
last December.
(Xinhua News Agency February 7, 2004)