Pigs are considered a “mixing vessel” for flu viruses because they can harbor bird and human flu viruses at the same time.Marco Bertorello/AFP via Getty Images

First pig infected with H5N1 bird flu recorded in the US – POLITICO

by · POLITICO

H5N1 bird flu has been detected in a pig in the United States for the first time, U.S. authorities confirmed, raising concern it could increase the risk of infection to people.

Pigs are considered a “mixing vessel” for flu viruses because they can harbor bird and human flu viruses at the same time, increasing the threat of a new hybrid strain that can more easily infect people.

Pigs were the source of the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic, Richard Webby, a virologist at the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital — which helps the World Health Organization study flu— told Reuters.