# 3351
While this study is likely to come as a bitter disappointment to conspiracy theorists (who seem to abound on the Internet), it does appear that the H1N1 `swine flu’ appeared quite naturally, without the aid and assistance of (insert your favorite nemesis).
A bit of a pity, really, since people love conspiracy theories, and a it might have spurred more people into taking the threat posed by a pandemic seriously.
This from the Washington Times.
Follow the link to read in its entirety (Hat tip DemFromCt on Flu Wiki).
Study links pigs to flu pandemic
By Jennifer Harper (Contact) | Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Mexican drug lords, anti-immigration activists, crafty Republicans and greedy drug companies have all been cited by an imaginative public as causes for the pandemic.
Blame it on mystery pigs, though. And there's no bioterrorism involved.
British scientists used extensive computer-enhanced genetic analysis to confirm that the H1N1 virus was not engineered in a test tube and that the flu originated in undetermined "swine lineage" years ago.
"We were able to reconstruct the origins and time scale of this new pandemic," said Oliver Pybus, a zoologist with Oxford University. "Our results show that this strain has been circulating among pigs, possibly among multiple continents, for many years prior to its transmission to humans."
