Avian influenza has been detected in a pig for the first time in the United State, USDA’s National Veterinary Services Laboratories confirmed Wednesday.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service said Wednesday that it and Oregon state veterinary officials “are investigating positive cases of H5N1 in a backyard farming operation in Oregon that has a mix of poultry and livestock, including swine.”
The Oregon Department of Agriculture said on Friday that it had detected the H5N1 strain in poultry in the noncommercial operation, the first time it had been found in Crook County. Then on Tuesday the NVSL confirmed that one of the five pigs on the farm was infected with H5N1.
"All five pigs and the 70 birds on the property were humanely euthanized to prevent the further spread of the highly contagious virus," the Oregon Department of Agriculture said. "None of the animals on the farm entered the food supply chain, nor were they intended for the commercial food market."
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“The livestock and poultry on this farm shared water sources, housing, and equipment; in other states, this combination has enabled transmission between species,” APHIS said. “Although the swine did not display signs of illness, the Oregon Department of Health and USDA tested the five swine for H5N1 out of an abundance of caution and because of the presence of H5N1 in other animals on the premises.”
The swine were then euthanized “to facilitate additional diagnostic analysis,” APHIS said. “Test results were negative for two of the pigs, and test results are still pending for two others.”
The farm is not a commercial operation, APHIS said in expressing “no concern about the safety of the nation’s pork supply as a result of this finding.” The farm has been quarantined “to prevent further spread of the virus [and] other animals, including sheep and goats on the farm, remain under surveillance.”
In addition, genomic sequencing of virus from the infected poultry “has not identified any changes to the H5N1 virus that would suggest to USDA and CDC that it is more transmissible to humans, indicating that the current risk to the public remains low.”
The Oregon Department of Agriculture said, “It's important to note that when properly prepared and cooked, HPAI does not affect meat or egg products, and these food items remain safe. The Centers for Disease Control [and Prevention] also recommends choosing pasteurized milk and dairy products to protect your health and your family's health.”
Bird flu has led to the euthanization of more than 104 million birds in 48 states since 2022, APHIS says. Since March of this year, H5N1 has infected nearly 400 dairy herds in 14 states, hitting California, with 193 affected herds, particularly hard recently.
Since April 2024, CDC has confirmed avian flu in three dozen people in the U.S.
“Fifteen of these cases were associated with exposure to H5N1 bird flu-infected poultry and 20 were associated with exposure to sick or infected dairy cows,” CDC said Tuesday. “The source of the exposure in one case, which was reported by Missouri on Sept. 6, could not be determined.”
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