Tests conducted on pigs in Vietnam have been positive for the bird flu virus infecting millions of poultry, the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization said this week.
A representative of the U.N. agency said the pigs were tested recently in and around Hanoi. He did not specify how many were sampled and which lab did the testing. Test results on blood samples taken from the 179 pigs have not been completed, he said.
Health officials have warned that if the bird flu virus combines with a human influenza virus, the result could create a more lethal strain that can be passed from human to human. Experts have said that it's possible the bird flu virus has jumped to humans through another mammal, such as pigs.