- Scientists had warned of pandemic after detecting virus in pigs and humans

Researchers in Calcutta saw a global swine flu pandemic coming more than two decades ago when they detected the H1N1 virus in both pigs and humans in the city.

Aizawl: Veterinary officials have identified the disease that killed about 100 pigs in Kolasib district of Mizoram over the last few days as 'Swine Fever', and not the dreaded Swine Flu of the H1N1 virus. ''Swine fever was first detected in Mizoram in 1980. A number of pigs have fallen prey to this disease. It should not be mistaken with the dreaded H1N1 virus.

Ranchi Veterinary College under Birsa Agriculture University (BAU), Ranchi, has issued public notices asking farmers across the state to get their cattle vaccinated against swine fever after deaths of pigs were reported from Jharkhand and Bihar.

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The European Union plans to extend strict radioactivity checks by 10 years on food imports from areas affected by the 1986 Chernobyl disaster due to continuing nuclear contamination, a document showed on Monday.

Contrary to the popular assumption that the new swine flu pandemic arose on factory farms in Mexico, federal agriculture officials now believe that it most likely emerged in pigs in Asia, but then traveled to North America in a human.

But they emphasized that there was no way to prove their theory and only sketchy data underpinning it.

New Delhi: Declaration of swine flu as pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO) has rung alarm bells in North-East India which has nearly one-fourth of the total pig population in the country and consumption of pork is fairly common.

AGARTALA, June 16: Authorities in the northeastern region have stepped up precautionary measures against the spread of swine flu, besides banning import of pigs and pork products from adjoining countries, officials said Tuesday.

The new H1N1 virus, which has caused the first pandemic of the 21st century, appears to have been circulating undetected among pigs for years, researchers reported on Thursday.

Although health officials have been watching for new influenza viruses in humans, animal health regulators have missed the opportunity to check swine, the researchers reported.

A new rotavirus strain jumped from pigs to humans the swine flu outbreak might take down two billion people worldwide if it turns into a wider pandemic, said an official who estimate. An airborne disease with its origin linked to pig farms in Mexico, it is yet another example of the flux of genetic material between people and animals. But flu is not the only risk. A new rotavirus