The H1N1 swine flu virus has been found in pigs in Canada, but officials say the animals probably were infected with the virus from a human.
Canadian officials confirmed Saturday that 200 pigs on a farm in the central province of Alberta were infected with swine flu. They said the pigs apparently got the virus from a farm worker who had recently visited Mexico.
The officials said the worker has already recovered from the flu. They say most of the pigs have recovered from the illness and that the rest are getting better.
Canadian authorities say the pigs have been quarantined as a precaution but it is not likely that the pigs could pass the virus to people.
They also said that the infected pigs do not pose any risk to the food supply.
Officials say the other 2,000 pigs living on the farm did not exhibit any flu-like symptoms.
Four global organizations issued a joint statement Saturday to calm fears that swine flu could be transmitted by pork products.
The United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and the World Trade Organization said as long as pork and pork products are handled properly they "will not be a source of infection."
The statement said there is no justification "for the imposition of trade measures on the importation of pigs or their products."
China, Indonesia, South Korea, the Philippines and Thailand have temporarily halted the import of live pigs and pork products from Mexico and parts of the United States.
Egypt on Saturday began slaughtering hundreds of thousands of pigs even though the country has not reported any cases of swine flu.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP.
