Pig farms in the country test negative for new swine flu strain that may trigger next pandemic

PETALING JAYA: Samples from commercial pig farms in the local industry nationwide have tested negative for the new type of swine flu that is said to be capable of triggering a pandemic, says the Veterinary Services Department (DVS).

The department said that there were three new strains that descended from the H1N1 swine flu that caused a pandemic in 2009, identified as the SIV H1N1, H1N1pdm09 virus dan G4 EA H1N1.

"The H1N1pdm09 has a slightly different genetic composition where its strain is extremely dangerous as it has been found to be zoonotic and can trigger a pandemic.

"The DVS has taken the samples to detect SIV H1N1 and H1N1pdm09 on commercial pigs and boars under our national surveillance programme.

"The results conducted to test H1N1pdm09 on all the samples have tested negative," it said in a statement on Wednesday (July 1).

The department revealed that the country has a population of 1.748 million pigs, which is worth RM5bil, being bred at a total of 614 commercial farms, with some 5,000 workers directly involved in the industry.

It was reported that researchers in China have discovered a new type of swine flu that is capable of triggering a pandemic, according to a study published Monday in the U.S. scientific journal PNAS. Named G4, it is genetically descended from the H1N1 strain that caused a pandemic in 2009.

G4 now shows "all the essential hallmarks of a candidate pandemic virus," said the study, published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

It possesses "all the essential hallmarks of being highly adapted to infect humans," say the authors, scientists at Chinese universities and China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

The World Health Organization said on Tuesday (June 30) that it would "read carefully" the study on the new virus, with a spokesman saying the findings highlighted the importance of the world not letting "our guard down on influenza."

DVS, however, noted that they found that some samples that have shown seropositive results towards SIV H1N1.

"However, the pigs showed no symptoms of any disease or risk of infection towards human," noted the department.

The Agriculture and Food Industries Ministry via the DVS and Malaysia Quarantine and Inspection Services (Maqis) have taken various steps at the country's entry point to ensure the spread of the disease.

These include a prohibition on imports of pork and swine products from high-risk countries, monitoring of borders and inspection on such products from high-risk countries and awareness campaigns regarding the disease.