Human H1N1 virus found in African livestock

Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, have located the H1N1 virus in animals by conducting nasal swab tests and taking blood samples from domestic pigs in the Cameroon region of Africa.

In one northern Cameroon village, researchers found two pigs with an active infection and throws of others with past infection. In total, 89 percent of the pigs studied in this region had H1N1 virus exposure.

Using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test, the researchers discovered that the pigs had the human H1N1 strain. The virus was identical to the strain that infected people in San Diego during the previous year.

During the spring of 2009, the global population was sent into a frenzy over the spread of a new strain of swine flu called Influenza A, or H1N1. Over 200 countries had citizens infected with the virus, and by June 11, the World Health Organization declared H1N1 to be the first worldwide pandemic in the past 41 years.

According to the Center for Disease Control, the virus caused 60 million illnesses in the US alone, 12,500 of which were fatal.

H1N1 contains genetic elements of swine, avian and human influenza. It was first officially found in Mexico, but federal agriculture officials theorize that it emerged from pigs in Asia and was carried by a human to the North American continent.

American researchers say that the H1N1 virus killed only one of every 2,000 that were infected. The virus also cooperated with the created vaccines and overall the flu underwhelmed government estimates for a pandemic on scale with the Spanish Flu of 1918.

Nevertheless, H1N1 still grabbed the attention of people worldwide. Federal health officials say that since the swine flu epidemic, 43 percent of Americans over the age of six months have gotten vaccinated for influenza, eight million more than during the 2009 season.

The existence of H1N1 in these swine is so dangerous because swine lend themselves to mixing highly virulent influenza strains that can be transmitted quickly. The mixing of avian and human strains of influenza in pigs creates hybrid strains with the ability to severely infect humans and potentially lead to a pandemic. Thus, if not closely monitored, the H1N1 that a human gave to these pigs could turn around and become a much more dangerous strain affecting humans and creating a larger pandemic.

As of September 2009, officials said that the virus had not mutated. However, the possibility of a new strain brewing in the African swine is threatening because it could be both more lethal and more transmissible.

An important fact about viruses in general is that they can spread and reach various parts of the world within days. This is of particular concern with the H1N1 virus, as it is primarily an airborne disease.

Moving forward, the researchers contacted Africa's Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industries in order to help limit the spread of the virus.

They will also be among scientists holding a workshop next year in Cameroon aimed at teaching citizens to raise pigs in a disease-preventing manner. According to the study, freely roaming swine are more prone to infection and certain methods of farming are more dangerous than others.

Of course, the current H1N1 strain is also protected against in the U.S. in this year's flu shot.

Results of the 2009 and 2010 field research that was conducted by Thomas B. Smith, Director of the UCLA Center for Tropical Research, and Kevin Njabo, Associate Director, were published in the most recent issue of Veterinary Microbiology.