osh%$

When one talks about potential zoonotic disease transfer, there is one animal that figures prominently, and that is the pig.

So the fact that bird flu has been found in pig is the proverbial big f%$#ing deal:

H5N1 bird flu virus has been found in a pig on a farm in Oregon, the first time the virus has been seen in a pig in the United States, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported Wednesday. A second pig may also have been infected, Oregon authorities later revealed.

………

Pigs are sometimes called a “mixing vessel” for flu viruses, because they can be infected with both bird flu viruses and human flu viruses. If the animals are co-infected at the same time with two or more viruses, the viruses can swap genes, potentially creating a hybrid virus that is better able to spread to and among people than bird flu viruses typically are. This phenomenon, called reassortment, is what gave rise to the 2009 H1N1 pandemic.

Because pigs can play this role, flu experts have been worried that the H5N1 virus currently spreading in cows in the United States could make its way to pigs — though any version of the H5N1 virus in pigs would be an unwelcome development.

Best evidence right now is that the 1918 influenza strain originated from bird that was subjected to a porcine "Shake and Bake" before jumping to humans.

This is not good.