Chile says swine flu in turkeys not a threat

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - The outbreak of H1N1 swine flu in turkeys in Chile, the first case found outside humans and pigs, was not a public health threat because the virus likely was spread via human contact, the government said on Friday.

Chile's farming and livestock agency said late on Thursday the outbreak had been controlled at the two affected farms 75 miles west of the capital Santiago and that the World Organization for Animal Health, or OIE, had been notified.

"This represents no risk for the public as the virus was most likely transmitted from a human to birds," said Chilean Health Ministry official Carlos Pavletic.

Authorities said laboratory results had ruled out the presence of H5N1, or bird flu virus, in the turkeys.

The government and bird producers also said repeatedly on Friday that local turkey meat was safe for consumption. Chile exports most of its bird meat, which includes turkey and chicken, to the European Union and Mexico, according to data from the Chilean Association of Bird Producers.

A senior official for the OIE, an intergovernmental organization based in Paris, said the outbreak was not cause for alarm as the presence of the virus in animals remained a minor concern compared to the pandemic facing humans.

The organization also backed Chile's claim that the birds likely got the virus from humans.

The Geneva-based World Health Organization declared H1N1 a full pandemic in June, and the virus has now spread to about 180 countries, causing at least 1,462 laboratory-confirmed deaths. The WHO says the pandemic is unstoppable.

Experts in the United States said the report from Chile was not surprising nor did it raise grave concerns despite the theoretical possibility that H1N1 could at some point recombine with the more fatal H5N1 avian influenza.

"Isolation of this virus from turkeys may not be that surprising. Because of the swine characteristics of this virus, it can have the capacity to infect turkeys," said Dr. Jay Butler, director of the H1N1 Vaccine Task Force at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in a telephone briefing with reporters.

UNDER QUARANTINE

The H1N1 virus was first seen in March in Mexico and California. Experts say at least 1 million people have been infected in the United States alone.

Genetic tests show the virus appears to have originated in pigs, but it is now spreading from person to person.

In Chile, H1N1 has killed 128 people and infected 12,175 during the South American nation's Southern Hemisphere winter.

The two farms where the cases were detected are near the port city of Valparaiso and owned by Sopraval, the country's largest producer of turkey meat and one of the top in Latin America.

They were placed under quarantine on August 13 as a precaution after turkey producers reported anomalies in egg production, authorities said. Later laboratory results confirmed the H1N1 infections.

Authorities did not say how many animals were infected but said there was no evidence the virus had spread to other parts of the country.

The head of the WHO, Margaret Chan, said this week that the world must remain on guard against the H1N1 flu, which has been mild so far but could become more serious as the northern hemisphere heads into winter.

Early reports of the "swine flu" prompted many countries to ban imported pork meat and pork products from North America. Most countries later lifted the bans after world animal health authorities said there was no evidence animals played a role in the spread of the virus.

(Additional reporting by Julie Steenhuysen in Chicago and Gus Trompiz in Paris; Writing by Alonso Soto; editing by Paul Simao)