Washington, April 27, 2009  - The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continue to reiterate to a public concerned about a hybrid influenza outbreak that pork is safe to eat.

“Eating properly handled and cooked pork or pork products is safe,” said USDA Sec. Tom Vilsack in a statement issued this morning. “I [want] to reassure the public that there is no evidence at this time showing that swine have been infected with this virus.

“According to scientists at USDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, swine flu viruses are not transmitted by food, so you cannot get swine flu from eating pork or pork products.”

On Thursday, the CDC said humans cannot contract from eating pork the hybrid influenza that has infected more than 20 people in the United States, more than 1,300 in Mexico and a number of people in several other countries.

At a Sunday White House briefing, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Sec. Janet Napolitano said there are no food safety issues related to the current flu virus.

The National Pork Producers Council and the National Pork Board also are assuring domestic and global consumers about the safety of pork and are urging pork producers to tighten their existing biosecurity protocols to protect their pigs from the virus, including restricting public access to barns.

In a related matter, the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) today named the virus that has been identified in those infected the “North American” flu. According to a Reuters story, the OIE said the flu virus spreading around the world should not be called “swine flu” because it also contains avian and human components and no pig yet has been infected with it.

For more information, visit www.pork.org, www.cdc.gov/swineflu or http://www.usda.gov/2009/04/0131.xml.

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