The first case of bird flu has been found in a pig at an Oregon farm

In: Health

Federal officials announced Wednesday that the H5N1 bird flu virus had been found in a pig for the first time in the US.

The pig was found on a backyard farm in Crook County, Oregon, the Department of Agriculture reported. The animal, which is one of five on the farm, did not show any signs of illness. Two other pigs tested negative and testing is still ongoing for the others.

All of the pigs were humanely euthanized to allow the department and the state’s health department to determine whether the animals were truly infected with the virus.

The farm, which has a mix of poultry and livestock, was the same site where both the federal and Oregon Department of Agriculture euthanized 70 birds affected by the flu last week. In response, Dr. Ryan Scholz, Oregon Department of Agriculture State Veterinarian, placed a quarantine on the property. The farm’s other animals, including sheep and goats, remain under surveillance.

A pig looks through a wire fence on a farm in Oregon. On another farm, in the state’s Crook County, Department of Agriculture officials said Wednesday the H5N1 bird flu virus has infected a pig there – the first such case in a pig in the US.
A pig looks through a wire fence on a farm in Oregon. On another farm, in the state’s Crook County, Department of Agriculture officials said Wednesday the H5N1 bird flu virus has infected a pig there – the first such case in a pig in the US. (Getty Images/iStock)

The animals on this farm shared water, housing and equipment. H5N1 is highly contagious, and similar shared environments have enabled transmission between species in other states.

The farm is a non-commercial operation and none of the animals were intended for the commercial food market or entered the food supply chain. Federal authorities assured there is currently no concern about the safety of the nation’s pork supply as a result of this finding.

US pork industry sales contributed more than $37 billion in personal income and $62 billion in gross domestic product last year. The country’s exports of major meats are projected to grow through 2033.

Officials say egg and meat products are safe from bird flu when they are properly cooked or prepared.

They also said that the current risk to the public remains low.

An electron microscope image shows a particle of the H5N1 bird flu. The virus is spreading across livestock and poultry in 14 states
An electron microscope image shows a particle of the H5N1 bird flu. The virus is spreading across livestock and poultry in 14 states ((Cynthia Goldsmith, Jackie Katz/CDC via AP, File))

“USDA’s National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) has conducted genomic sequencing of virus from the poultry infected on this farm, and that sequencing has not identified any changes to the H5N1 virus that would suggest to USDA and CDC that it is more transmissible to humans, indicating that the current risk to the public remains low,” it said.

The pig development comes as the number of humans infected with bird flu rises across the US over the last few weeks. California has seen the bulk of the almost 40 cases reported nationwide.

In neighboring Washington state, human infections were up to nine on Wednesday. As of Friday, nearly 400 cases of the virus had been reported in livestock across 14 states.