New concern as swine flu jumps to birds
Swine flu has jumped to birds opening a new chapter in the global epidemic, scientists said today.
Chile’s health ministry confirmed that turkeys caught the virus from people at two farms outside the city of Valparaiso.
Authorities ordered a complete quarantine today and alerted the World Health Organisation.
Some illness was suspected at the farms owned by the Sopraval company after egg production dropped this month.
Samples were taken and confirmed yesterday to be the same influenza virus now circulating in humans around the world – a mixture of human, pig and bird genes.
But a United Nations animal health expert said the infected turkeys have suffered only mild effects, lowering the potential danger – and agreed with the government that Chile’s turkey meat remains safe to eat.
