Bird flu virus found on pigs in Vietnam

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, February 06, 2004

Bird flu virus found on pigs in Vietnam

Pigs in Vietnam have tested positive for the bird flu virus that has infected millions of poultry across Asia and killed 18 people, the UN Food and Agricultural Organization said Friday.

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Pigs in Vietnam have tested positive for the bird flu virus that has infected millions of poultry across Asia and killed 18 people, the UN Food and Agricultural Organization said Friday.

"Nasal swabs taken from pigs have been positive for H5N1,'' said Anton Rychener, Hanoi representative for the UN agency. "It continues to be under investigation and is of concern. We'll be bringing in an expert.''

Rychener said the pigs were tested recently in and around Hanoi. He did not specify how many were sampled and which lab did the testing. Test results on blood samples taken from the pigs have not been completed, he said.

But Vietnamese officials said Friday tests done on samples taken from 179 pigs by Hong Kong laboratories showed they did not have the bird flu.

So far, officials believe that the bird flu sweeping Asia is contracted through direct contact with infected birds. Experts have said it's possible that the virus has jumped to humans through another mammal, such as pigs.

Eighteen people have died of avian influenza: 13 in Vietnam and five in Thailand.

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