The Council of Agriculture (COA) said on Friday that the H1N1 virus recently detected among pigs in the eastern county of Taitung may have been transmitted by humans.

Results conducted on Thursday showed that the virus found in the pigs was the same as the H1N1 strain that affects humans. The results of tests on the farm's six workers showed that none were infected with the H1N1 flu. However, the council said that does not mean that the workers had not been infected previously.

Taiwan's Centers for Disease Control said that the pigs' feed could have been contaminated by an infected person.

The government has already reported the case to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).