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Bird flu was found in a US pig – does that raise the risk for humans?

A bird flu virus that has been circulating in dairy cattle for months has now been found in a pig in the US for the first time, raising the risk of the virus evolving to become more dangerous to people

By Grace Wade

1 November 2024

New Scientist. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

Every time H5N1 infects a mammal, it has a chance to develop mutations that make it more transmissible

Alamy Stock Photo

It’s been detected in birds on every continent except Australia, seals in South America, foxes in Canada, as well as poultry, dairy cows and dozens of farm workers who have had contact with them in the US – and now the highly infectious H5N1 bird flu virus has jumped to a pig in the US for the first time.

This development is, without a doubt, troubling. It affords the virus one of its best opportunities to date to evolve…

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