A shipment of live A/H1N1 flu strains, or swine flu virus, arrived in a research institute in US state of Alabama on Friday where scientists will start to test new vaccines and antiviral drugs, a local official said in a statement.

Diana Noah, senior project leader at Southern Research Institute in Birmingham, Alabama, said a small amount of live A/H1N1 flu strain is now on site and will be grown in embryonic chicken eggs over the next two weeks.

The virus will then be used for laboratory tests to ensure the efficacy of new vaccines now being developed to prevent the A/H1N1 flu strain circulating throughout the United States, Noah explained, adding that his institute will also use the virus to test existing and upcoming antiviral drugs.

There are 25 staff members at Southern Research Institute. Noah said they will be working in cooperation with their counterparts in the Pulmonary Injury and Repair Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham, on several projects associated with the recent outbreak of A/H1N1 flu.

So far there has no confirmed cases of A/H1N1 flu in Alabama, though state health officer Don Williamson announced the fourth suspected A/H1N1 flu case on Friday.

Three probable cases reported at Heritage Elementary School and another in Montgomery, a young woman in her 20s, Williamson said.

Many Alabama hospitals began distributing masks, tissues and hand sanitizer Thursday and Friday as protection against possible A/H1N1 flu.

(Xinhua News Agency May 2, 2009)