Following the discovery in China that avian flu can be carried in pigs, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has stipulated that all countries affected by the disease must increase the checks carried out on pigs.

Although the pigs can carry the disease without actually becoming infected, it is feared that they could cause a mutation of the influenza, which could lead to a new virus that could pass to humans more easily.

This year alone, 100 million chickens, ducks and other bird varieties have died or been culled in Asia as a result of the disease.  Therefore, it is hoped that any further contamination through pigs can be halted.

 

 

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