# 3395
Argentina has, over the past few days, taken center stage in the H1N1 pandemic drama, with 21 deaths attributed to the virus, and reports of dozens of people on ventilators in Buenos Aires.
Today, we get word that some pigs have tested positive for the virus, and that an animal quarantine area has been imposed.
That pigs are susceptible to this virus isn’t a surprise. This is the second time we’ve heard of a pigs carrying this virus in the Americas, the first was from a farm in Alberta, Canada.
All of this points out the need for more surveillance, as the true incidence of this virus in pigs around the world isn’t known. Pigs are believed to be efficient mixing vessels for human, swine, and avian influenzas, and may be the source of many of the viral reassortments we’ve seen in the past.
This from the Dow Jones News wires.
Swine flu now hits pigs
Dow Jones Newswires
June 26, 2009
THE first sign of swine flu has been detected in the Argentine pig population.
At least five hogs in Argentina's populous Buenos Aires Province have tested positive for the H1N1 flu, according to the animal health and sanitation service, or Senasa. A 15-kilometer quarantine area has been imposed, with hogs from surrounding farms being tested, Senasa spokesman Carlos Chichizola said.
Chichizola noted that the presence of the disease in the pig population did not increase the risk to humans, adding that there is no danger from consuming pork. The infected pigs all recovered.
In fact, it's the pigs that are at greater risk from human contact, with Senasa working based on the hypothesis that the pig was made sick through contact with an infected human.
Argentina has been the most seriously affected country in South America by the so-called swine flu. On Wednesday, four more swine flu deaths were reported, raising to 21 the number of people who have died from the flu strain.
