Bird flu in pigs? – EU food safety expert warns of epidemiological risk

By: Trademagazin Date: 2025. 05. 05. 10:55

Bernhard Url, the outgoing executive director of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), has warned of a serious epidemiological risk: if the current wave of bird flu spreads to pigs, Europe could become a “dangerous virus laboratory”. Url stressed in an interview with the Financial Times that the pathogen can exchange genetic material with human flu viruses in pigs, thus developing a mutation that can be transmitted from person to person.

The H5N1 type of bird flu has already spread to poultry, dairy cattle and sheep – according to the latest reports, infected cattle have been registered in 17 states in the United States, and poultry has been affected in all states. US authorities have also confirmed dozens of human infections, including one death. The first pig infection in the US was reported in the state of Oregon last year, while sheep infection was also identified in the United Kingdom in March this year.

Url said the European Union needed to be more prepared, as the EU has one of the largest pig populations in the world, with more than 133 million pigs – compared to 75.8 million in the United States and around 400 million in China. The former head of EFSA warned that pigs are a host species in which both avian and human influenza viruses can replicate, so the emergence of a new strain with pandemic potential cannot be ruled out.

Bird flu is therefore not only a threat to livestock, but also a potential public health threat – experts are therefore urging the strengthening of animal health and epidemiological surveillance across Europe.