sábado, 2 de maio de 2009

Wired conta de onde veio o ancestral da gripe suína

Reportagem publicada ontem pela Wired Science aponta que o "ancestral" do vírus da gripe H1N1 surgiu em 1998 em fazendas industriais nos Estados Unidos.

Swine Flu Ancestor Born on U.S. Factory Farms

Scientists have traced the genetic lineage of the new H1N1 swine flu to a strain that emerged in 1998 in U.S. factory farms, where it spread and mutated at an alarming rate. Experts warned then that a pocket of the virus would someday evolve to infect humans, perhaps setting off a global pandemic.

The new findings challenge recent protests by pork industry leaders and U.S., Mexican and United Nations agriculture officials that industrial farms shouldn’t be implicated in the new swine flu, which has killed up to 176 people and on Thursday was declared an imminent pandemic by the World Health Organization. (...)
Wired Science - News for Your Neurons