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A pig in Oregon has tested positive for H5N1 bird flu, according to a Wednesday announcement from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The infected pig was from a backyard farming operation that had a “mix of poultry and livestock,” the press release stated.

The USDA National Veterinary Services Laboratories confirmed that this was the “first detection of H5N1 in swine” in the U.S.

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“The livestock and poultry on this farm shared water sources, housing and equipment; in other states, this combination has enabled transmission between species,” the release noted.

The infected pig did not display symptoms of illness, but was tested — along with four other swine — out of “an abundance of caution” after other animals on the farm tested positive.

“There is no concern about the safety of the nation’s pork supply as a result of this finding.”

Out of the other five pigs tested, two were negative and two still have pending results.

“This farm is a non-commercial operation, and the animals were not intended for the commercial food supply,” the USDA stated. 

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“There is no concern about the safety of the nation’s pork supply as a result of this finding.”

The farm has been placed under quarantine to prevent further spread of bird flu, and the other animals are being monitored, per the USDA.

Doctors weigh in

Dr. Marc Siegel, clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Health and Fox News Senior Medical Analyst, noted that cattle are “definitely now a reservoir” for H5N1.

“A solo pig isn’t concerning except for two things — how many more have it that we don’t know about, and that pigs are a mixing vessel for flu,” he told Fox News Digital.

The infected pig (not pictured) was from a backyard farming operation that had a “mix of poultry and livestock,” the press release stated. (iStock)

“There can be several different kinds of flu in swine at any given time, and they can exchange genetic material, creating new strains,” the doctor cautioned. 

The 2009 H1N1 pandemic, though “mild by pandemic standards,” involved a swine flu, Siegel noted.

Added the doctor, “Continued spread in the pig population would concern me.”

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Dr. Benjamin Anderson, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Environmental and Global Health at the University of Florida, noted that while this appears to be an isolated event, there is still “some cause for concern.”

The doctor echoed Siegel’s concern that swine are a known “mixing vessel” for influenza A viruses, “as they are able to be infected by avian and human influenza virus strains.”

“There can be several different kinds of flu in swine at any given time, and they can exchange genetic material, creating new strains,” a doctor warned. (iStock)

“If H5N1, an avian influenza virus, were to regularly transmit among pigs, the greatest concern is that the genetic material from other influenza virus strains circulating in pigs may recombine with it to make a new progeny virus that is more transmissible to humans,” Anderson told Fox News Digital.

The fact that all five of the pigs at the farm were not clinically ill is also concerning when it comes to surveillance, according to the doctor.

“It’s abundantly clear we have a serious H5N1 problem in the U.S. that isn’t going away anytime soon.”

“Most of our testing for H5N1 in farm settings to date has only occurred due to clinical outbreaks,” he said.

“If the virus is causing subclinical (mild illness) or asymptomatic (no illness) infections in other livestock, then we may not catch it without regular ongoing testing.”

Factors that mitigate risk

Samuel Scarpino, director of AI and life sciences and professor of health sciences at Northeastern University in Boston, said there are two factors that could potentially mitigate the risk associated with this pig becoming infected with bird flu.

“First, the H5N1 virus that infected the pig in Oregon likely came from an infected bird, as opposed to a spillover from an infected dairy farm,” he told Fox News Digital. 

There are two main lineages of H5N1 currently circulating in the US, one in birds and one in dairy cows, an expert noted. (iStock)

“There are two main lineages of H5N1 currently circulating in the US, one in birds and one in dairy cows. We suspect that the H5N1 lineage circulating in dairy cows may be more infectious in humans than the lineage of H5N1 circulating in birds.”

Second, the farm was not large, Scarpino noted, which means there are fewer opportunities for transmission between pigs and for evolution of the virus. 

“In addition, there are fewer humans working on the farm who may have come in contact with infected animals,” he added.

Because the farm was not large, there are fewer opportunities for transmission between pigs and for evolution of the virus, said an infectious diseases expert. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda, File)

Despite these factors, the expert went on, anytime there are pigs infected with a highly pathogenic avian influenza, measures should be taken to ensure that farm workers are protected and that they have not transmitted the virus to others. 

“Even though this virus did not originate from an infected dairy farm, it’s abundantly clear we have a serious H5N1 problem in the U.S. that isn’t going away anytime soon,” Scarpino cautioned. 

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“We are also entering the normal seasonal flu period, which will make it harder to detect rare H5N1 infections.”

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Scarpino calls for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), along with state and local public health agencies, to increase resources for influenza surveillance to include both clinical and wastewater testing.

Tuberculosis (TB) is once again the infectious disease responsible for the most deaths worldwide, according to a Tuesday announcement from the World Health Organization (WHO).

The contagious disease was responsible for 1.25 million global deaths in 2023, WHO reported, including 161,000 people with HIV.

COVID-19 had overtaken TB as the world’s leading infectious killer for the previous three years.

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What to know about tuberculosis

TB is a preventable and curable disease caused by bacteria that typically impacts the lungs, according to WHO.

It is an airborne contagion that can be spread through coughing, sneezing or saliva.

While around 25% of people have likely been infected with the bacteria, only 5% to 10% will experience symptoms and develop the disease, the same source stated.

Only people with symptoms can spread the disease.

Who is at risk?

“If you breathe, you can catch TB — so all people are at risk,” Masae Kawamura, M.D., a former TB control director in San Francisco and a tuberculosis clinician, told Fox News Digital. 

Kawamura calls TB a “social disease of crowding and mobility.” 

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“Since TB is airborne, congregate settings like hospitals, nursing homes, prisons, jails, classrooms and homeless shelters are places TB is more easily spread, especially if multiple risks are involved,” she said.

Those at the highest risk of developing TB disease after exposure include people who have diabetes, have weakened immunity, are malnourished, use tobacco and/or drink excess amounts of alcohol.

Babies and children are also at higher risk.

“If a person has latent TB infection, TB disease activation varies from 5% to 15% over a lifetime, but can be higher if a person has multiple risks, such being an elderly person and/or being malnourished, having diabetes and/or having other diseases that weaken the immune system,” said Kawamura.

Symptoms, diagnosis and treatment

Those who get sick with TB may experience mild symptoms, including coughing, chest pain, fatigue, weight loss, weakness, fever and night sweats, according to WHO.

Symptoms will vary depending on which organs are affected. 

“If you breathe, you can catch TB — so all people are at risk.”

In addition to the lungs, the disease can also affect the kidneys, spine, skin and brain.

“TB can affect any organ of the body, but it causes disease in the lung in over 80% of cases,” said Kawamura.

“This is dangerous because it causes cough, the mechanism of airborne spread.”

TB is an airborne contagion that can be spread through coughing, sneezing or saliva. (iStock)

In more severe cases, patients may cough up blood, noted Kawamura, who serves on the board of directors of Vital Strategies, a global public health organization. 

“Often there are minimal symptoms for a long time and people mistake their occasional cough with allergies, smoking or a cold they can’t shake off,” she added.

TB can be identified with rapid diagnostic tests, WHO noted.

The disease is treated with antibiotics that are taken every day for four to six months, the same source stated. Some of the most common include isoniazid, rifampicin, pyrazinamide and ethambutol.

“TB can affect any organ of the body, but it causes disease in the lung in over 80% of cases,” an expert said. “This is dangerous because it causes cough, the mechanism of airborne spread.” (iStock)

Failing to take the complete course of medications can cause the bacteria to become drug-resistant.

Cases of drug-resistant TB need to be treated with different medications.

When TB becomes deadly

If TB goes untreated, it is fatal in about half of its victims, according to Kawamura. 

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“About 25% recover on their own and another 25% persist as chronic active TB cases,” she said.  

 In the U.S., most active TB cases are detected at an earlier stage, the expert noted, but the death rate is still “shockingly high” at 10%, and much higher if the patient is over 65 years old.  

Prevention of the disease

There is a childhood vaccine called BCG (Bacille-Calmette-Guerin) that is given in most of the world to infants, Kawamura noted.

“It reduces death, meningitis and organ dissemination by 75% in children under 5 — however, it does not prevent TB infection and is ineffective in adults,” the doctor told Fox News Digital. 

The best means of prevention is testing those at risk and treating latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI), a doctor advised. (iStock)

“Overall, BCG is considered ineffective, hence, TB’s title as the greatest infectious disease killer of all time.”

BCG was never used in the U.S. because of the country’s lower rates of TB, its ineffectiveness and its interference with TB tests, she added.

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The best means of prevention is testing those at risk and treating latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI), according to the doctor.