Australia:

The piggery in central-western NSW has been placed in quarantine after some of the 2,000 pigs there were found to have swine flu.

It is the first time ever that Australian pigs have been infected by the virus.

Doctor Andrew Jeremijenko, an epidemiologist, says the there is a risk the virus will now gain strength and mutate.

"The alarmist bells that concern me most is that in pigs, the disease that can transmit between humans and pigs, in the pig population it could mutate a little bit and come back slightly different to humans," he said.

"One of the concerns is that the virus could mutate, so that the medicines that we have don't work against it. Another concern is that it could mix with another virus like the bird flu virus.

"I did most of my research in influenza in Indonesia; we were watching pigs there because the pigs can have the bird virus and the human virus and it can mix up and come out as a stronger virus.

Dr Jeremijenko says it is crucial that work is done now to form teams of doctors and agriculture vets.

He says their brief should be to keep a close eye on the virus in pig and abattoir workers.

Andrew Spencer from industry body Australian Pork Limited admits the public image of the pork industry could suffer.

"What I want to make sure of however is that consumers have no fear... you can't get the disease through consuming pork," he said.

"This is the first time that any type of swine flu has occurred in Australia. So from that point of view it's not a great thing for the industry," Mr Spencer said.

The pigs caught the virus from humans working at the farm, but the disease is unlikely to be fatal for the animals.

The Australian pork industry is worth $2.5 billion a year and employs 33,000 people.

The NSW Department of Primary Industries has not said where the piggery is located.
hattip Pixie