USDA is investigating the confirmation of one pig testing positive for the H5N1 bird flu. This is a unique situation with this animal being on a small backyard farm in Oregon where it was housed with poultry, sheep, and goats. H5N1 has high mortality rates in birds. “We’re now seeing that with these five pigs that were tested, only one was positive and none of the pigs showed clinical signs,” said Dr. Megan Niederwerder, executive director, Swine Health Information Center. “This gives us some indication it could be a low pathogenicity presentation in pigs but it’s only one pig and certainly we’re still learning.” Niederwerder emphasized pork is safe to eat. This incident is a reminder for pork producers to reassess their biosecurity protocols. Listen to the full interview.
