Decimating Pig Virus Takes Toll In China

Chinese officials have acknowledged that a deadly and apparently new virus is spreading quickly among the nation's pigs.

But because of the often secretive nature of the government, and its apparent desire to limit bad news about the country, many fear that the disease holds the potential to do even worse -- start a global pandemic among domesticated pigs or, worse, spread to humans.

The virus has been found across China, in most of its provinces, according to a story in today's New York Times. The SARS epidemic in 2003, which started in China and spread worldwide, eventually killing 774 of the 8,098 people sickened, may have started under similar circumstances as an animal disease.

It also bears similarities to avian influenza, which is amplified in domestic flocks of birds in close contact with humans, upping the chance that a mutated form of the virus could be spread person-to-person. Whether or not this pig virus proves to be a worldwide concern, only time -- and the honesty of the Chinese government -- will tell.

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