Virologists who have been monitoring pigs at a Hong Kong slaughterhouse report that the human-transmitted 2009 H1N1 swine flu virus has re-combined with the pigs’ genetic material, creating a new strain. This viral combination includes one gene from the pandemic swine flu virus plus others from the two strains that had originally mixed together to create the pandemic flu.

While the scientists state that this new 2010 H1N1 virus evolving in the pigs is not currently a threat to humans, they emphasize that the 2009 H1N1 pandemic virus, which is still affecting humans, is likely reasserting itself in slaughterhouses across the globe and could be more dangerous than ever if it mutates back to a form that infects humans.

US-based Columbia University epidemiologist Dr. Ian Lipkin described this potentially lethal cycle as he stated, “Everyone talks about viruses that go from animals to people, but it’s a two-way street.
We reintroduce them to animals, where they re-assort and become pathogenic.”
Meanwhile, India recently has seen an increase in swine flu cases and deaths, particularly in Kerala where officials were shocked as they recorded 17 deaths in a month with 201 diagnosed cases.

Bogotá, Colombia also saw a jump in confirmed cases from two per week to 14, with numbers increasing across the country as well.  Dr. Lipkin and other international scientists, we appreciate this warning of swine flu’s continued threat to public health.

As we send our sympathies for the sad loss of lives, we pray that the suffering from this and all diseases originating in the inhumane livestock industry may cease as humanity awakens to the vital, life-sparing benefits of plant-based fare.

http://www.physorg.com/news196007403.html
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/06/swine-flu-evolves/
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/06/100617-swine-flu-h1n1-pigs-science/
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