Japan Confirms Finding H1N1 Flu Virus in Pig Sample

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Latest Pig Industry News

Thursday, October 22, 2009

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Japan Confirms Finding H1N1 Flu Virus in Pig Sample

JAPAN - The Japanese veterinary authorities have reported to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) finding the influenza A H1N1 virus in a pooled sample from 10 pigs. The sampling was taken as part of routine surveillance.

An Immediate notification was sent to the OIE yesterday, 21 October. This is an emerging disease in the country.

The disease is reported to have occured in Osaka in swine. The source is currently still under investigation. This is reportedly the first H1N1 infection in Japan.

The infection was detected through surveillance conducted by prefectural veterinary authority. The virus was isolated from a pool of 10 nasal swabs directly collected randomly from pigs without clinical signs on 2 October 2009.

The subtype H1 was confirmed by National Institute of Animal Health (NIAH) on 20 October 2009 while the subtype N1 was confirmed on 21 October 2009. The affected farm is being under voluntary movement restraint. No abnormalities are observed in pigs within a 10km radius around the affected farm. Epidemiological investigations are continuing.

Several measures have been applied to curb the spread of the disease in the country.

ThePigSite News Desk