A claim by an Australian virus researcher that swine flu may have been created by human error is being investigated by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Former Australian National University scientist Professor Adrian Gibbs says the virus could have been created in laboratories which grow viruses to make vaccines.

Professor Gibbs says he came to the conclusion while analysing the virus's genetic blueprint on the internet.

"There is the real possibility that it could be some sort of error in the laboratory," he said.

"One of the things that is known about the flu hemagglutinin gene is that it speeds up when it is grown in eggs, and flu is grown in laboratories in eggs."