I haven’t really paid much attention to the sudden outbreak of swine flu, which has so far killed at least 83 people in Mexico. But I now realize this may become something much worse than the first reports suggested.

“Over 1,300 people are now thought to have contracted the virulent H1N1 swine influenza after it mutated into a form that spreads from human to human,” Sky News reports.

The World Health Organisation now warns that the virus may continue to mutate. “It’s quite possible for this virus to evolve... when viruses evolve, clearly they can become more dangerous to people,” says a WHO spokesperson.

There is no evidence that people are being infected with the virus from exposure to pork or pigs, but several countries are stepping up checks on meat imports.

If you ever considered going kosher, this is the time to do it.

Update: “Governments around the world were put on high alert yesterday for a possible swine flu pandemic as the death toll from the virus at its epicentre in Mexico continued to rise, and possible cases were reported as far afield as Israel, New Zealand and Scotland,” the Guardian reports.

Update: According to BBC News, Dr Keiji Fukuda, a top UN health chief, has said the international community is better prepared than ever to deal with the threatened spread of a new swine flu virus. Years of preparing for bird flu had boosted world stocks of anti-viral agents. That’s comforting.