Canada: First Pigs Found Infected With New Swine Flu Virus, Under Quarantine

By News on the Net —— Bio and Archives May 3, 2009

Comments | Print This | Subscribe | Email Us

OTTAWA — Pigs on a Canadian farm have been infected with the new swine flu virus — apparently by a farm worker back from Mexico — and are under quarantine, officials said Saturday. It is the first known case of pigs having the virus.

But officials quickly urged caution. Swine flu regularly causes outbreaks in pigs, and the pigs do not pose a food safety risk, Dr. Brian Evans, executive vice president with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, told a news conference. The officials said the pigs in the province of Alberta were thought to be infected by a Canadian farm worker who recently visited Mexico and got sick after returning to Canada. More...