Vientiane, 29 April 2009:  During the emergency, joint response meeting called yesterday by National Avian and Human Influenza Coordinating Office, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) advised the Department of Livestock and Fisheries to maintain a high level of vigilance and gather epidemiological information on any unusual influenza-like respiratory diseases in pigs.  

The current H1N1 influenza virus that is causing illness among humans in the USA and some other countries, and a worrisome number of human deaths in Mexico, is a new reassortant (mix) of different influenza strains. So far, pigs do not appear to be the immediate source of the current crisis and all indications point towards human-to-human transmission and infection. 

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