Reply #23: It is not "swine flu" it is human 2009 H1N1 flu. It's never been seen in pigs [View All]

It's never been seen in pigs, or in pork products.

It is fully human, though it may eventually be transmitted to pigs.

It is a recombinant virus involving the combination and reassortment of genes from 4 virus strains - one an avian strain, one a human strain, one a swine strain and one a new strain, apparently of asian swine origin.

(There are a total of 8 genes in the flu virus, I have not yet found a listing of which of the 8 come from which strain. Two have come from the Asian strain, the other six may be 2 each or 4-1-1, or any other combination adding to 6.)

The first three have, according to report from one research group, been seen in combination before. This is in an H1N1 virus infecting pigs for more than 10 years, which has, so far as is reported, never infected humans. It is believed to have originated in the US, in large pork production factory farms in one of the Carolinas.

This H1N1 flu is new, has never been seen in pigs and is NOT a swine flu. It is a human flu.