Switzerland-WTO change stance on swine flu.

SWITZERLAND-WTO KNOCK PORK BANS.

Trade bans on pork products based on fears these products may transmit influenza are unjustified as "there is no case of infection in animals confirmed in the zones where cases of human infection have been detected," said the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) in a written statement released yesterday.

"Given there is no case of infection in animals confirmed in the zones where cases of human infection have been detected, it is not necessary to introduce specific measures for international trade in swine or their products nor to consider that consumers of pork products are at risk of infection," the statement said.

OIE reiterated its call for a name change for the illness, noting that it was "not correct to call the current disease ’swine influenza’" as this virus has only been found in humans. "The virus that is circulating includes genetic components of human, avian and swine origin," the statement notes.

To read OIE’s full statement and letter to Delegates, click here: http://www.oie.int/eng/press/en_090427.htm

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