Worse -- there were "no statistically significant differences" between "conventionally raised swine and swine raised without antibiotics," reported the researchers.
To clarify the age-specific mechanisms of transmission in swine raised for human consumption, published data [ 24] on age-specific seroprevalence on pig farms was re-examined.
The emergence of this new cluster of A(H1N1 pdm09 in swine raises further concerns about whether A(H1N1 pdm09 with new molecular characteristics will become established in pigs and potentially transmitted to humans.
Worldwide detection and circulation of A(H1N1 pdm09 in swine raised concerns about the transmission to humans of strains with different antigenic characteristics, mainly derived from the accumulation of AA substitutions in HA and NA proteins.
Detection of genogroup II (GII) norovirus (NoV) RNA from adult pigs in Japan and Europe and GII NoV antibodies in US swine raises public health concerns about zoonotic transmission of porcine NoVs to humans, although no NoVs have been detected in US swine.
Models suggest that swine raised on large-scale commercial farms, where animals are confined and raised at high densities, could serve as an important source of novel influenza that might trigger a new pandemic by infecting agricultural workers who would serve as a bridge to spread the virus to the rest of the population [ 26].
Since then, the virus has sustained circulation among local swine herds, raising concerns about the potential for genetic evolution of the virus and possible retransmission back to humans of variants with increased virulence.
The logistics of vaccine distribution to swine exhibitors prior to the fair becomes difficult because most exhibition swine are raised by youth exhibitors in small, dispersed herds (<10 pigs per herd).
Nonetheless, the unassembled swine HEV protein was recognized both efficiently and specifically by a reference swine serum raised against the naïve virus [ 25], and was highly immunogenic in mice, suggesting some extent of folding and conservation of its antigenic structure.
As the three-month-old outbreak of swine flu raises havoc during the winter season in the Southern Hemisphere, officials in the United States are carefully seeking clues from there to deal with its likely return in this country in the fall, before a vaccine can protect large numbers of people.
