The Ontario Veterinary College says patterns of infection indicate that, although H1N1 influenza is capable of infecting multiple species, it clearly prefers people to animals. Influenza viruses infect the lung cells of the host, whether a person an animal or a bird, where they reproduce.
When a cell becomes infected by multiple viruses, the genetic material from those viruses can reorganize within the infected cell creating a new virus. Dr. Cate Dewey, a professor of swine health management with the Ontario Veterinary College, says although H1N1 is a zoonotic disease people are primarily susceptible.
Dr. Dewey says we know the H1N1 virus can spread quite easily from people to pigs, from people to ferrets and from people to cats but there’s no evidence the virus can move from those animals back to people. Because we know this virus spreads easily from a person, she encourages those people with the H1N1 virus to stay home, stay away from other people and very definitely stay away from the farm to avoid spreading the virus to animals.