Page 6 of articles about influenza in Swine news

Ecuador, Kazakhstan, the United Arab Emirates and Honduras have lifted temporary restrictions on pork imports from Mexico, the Economy Ministry said Tuesday.

The Egyptian government decided to spend 45 million Egyptian pounds (about 8 million U.S dollars) on compensating pig farmers as the authorities are culling all pigs in the country, Al Ahram daily reported Wednesday.

Since the appearance of the new swine flu in humans in several countries, the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor) has introduced new restrictions on the importation of pigs, pig meat and derived products.

After the detection of the A/H1N1 virus in pigs in Canada transmitted by a human, FAO has again urged national authorities and farmers to carefully monitor pigs and investigate any possible occurrences of influenza-like symptoms in domestic animals.

The novel A/H1N1 influenza virus has been identified and being very closely related to the human strains based on the genes sequenced so far. Full characterisation is continuing and so is virus isolation in eggs. It is highly probable that the pigs were exposed to the virus from a farm worker who had recently returned from Mexico and had been exhibiting flu-like symptoms.

Canada Pork International had estimated on Thursday that pork exports had dropped 5% to 10% because of the flu.

Incorrect reporting of the H1N1 flu as "swine" flu has compounded the economic squeeze the U.S. pork industry has experienced during the past 19 months, when producers lost an average of $20 per hog, N.P.P.C. continued. Producers have lost another $6 per pig, with average hog prices falling from $124 a head on April 24 to $118 on April 28, since the flu outbreak became a major news story. This decline has cost the industry approximately $2.5 million a day, N.P.P.C. relayed.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) indicates that it has found H1N1 flu virus in a swine herd in Alberta. The safety of the food supply is not affected and Canadian pork continues to be safe to eat. While further testing is needed to more fully characterize the virus, the CFIA is taking a precautionary approach. The herd has been placed under quarantine, and the Agency is working with public health colleagues to determine the most appropriate next steps to ensure that public and animal health remain protected. The chance that these pigs could transfer virus to a person is remote.

On Tuesday, the Egyptian parliament voted to slaughter the country’s entire pig livestock of around 250,000 animals in a precautionary measure.

The FAO-OIE Crisis Management Centre – Animal Health is mobilizing a team of experts to assist government efforts to protect the pig sector from the novel H1N1 virus by confirming there is no direct link to pigs, increasing animal disease surveillance and maintaining response readiness should the new virus become introduced into the pig population.

The H1N1 virus that has triggered fears of a global human flu pandemic has not been found in U.S. swine and so far has not "been shown to affect swine," U.S. Department of Agriculture chief veterinarian Dr. John Clifford testified yesterday during a Senate hearing. Naming the virus "swine flu" -- a name, Clifford allowed, that was apt to stick -- has caused unnecessary alarm with U.S. trade partners and dismay in the animal agriculture industry.

Sales of pork products in Mexico have fallen 80 percent since last week because of the swine flu outbreak, the CPM group representing hog farmers told Efe on Wednesday.

U.S. commodity markets retreated Monday in part on fears related to the outbreak of swine flu, potential reduced pork consumption and the banning of pork imports from the United States by Russia, China and other countries, although there have been no reports of the virus in U.S. swine.

Because the current A/H1N1 related human health event has been described as swine influenza, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) wishes to further clarify the facts from the animal health perspective, particularly in relation to international trade of pigs and of products of pig origin. The OIE also points out that it will continue to respond to new, incoming information as the situation evolves.

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The Russian government has suspended imports of all meat from Mexico as well as Texas, California and Kansas shipped after April 21 on fears of the spread of swine flu. In addition, China has banned pork imports from Mexico and the U.S. states of Texas, Kansas and California.