August 12, 2016
For Immediate Release
Swine Influenza at Michigan County fairs:
BACKGROUND
Muskegon County Fair: On July 29, 2016, one hog tested positive for swine influenza. Samples were sent to the U.S. Department of Agriculture?s (USDA) National Veterinary Services Laboratory (NVSL) in Ames, Iowa on August 3, 2016, and it confirmed positive for influenza H3N2.
Ingham County Fair: on Friday, August 5, 2016, one hog tested positive for swine influenza. Samples were sent to USDA?s NVSL as well for confirmation and typing; results are pending.
Both the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and area local health departments have been contacted and are managing the situation from the perspective of human health.
Human infection with flu viruses from pigs are most likely to occur when people are in close proximity to infected pigs, such as in pig barns and livestock exhibits housing pigs at fairs.
Swine influenza viruses are classified by the types and further classified by strains, like people, pigs are susceptible to many strains of flu. Swine Influenza Cass County Fair Current Situation
Twenty pigs exhibited at the Cass County fair were tested for influenza and twenty were positive for influenza. The strain is reported as H3N2.
No ill human contacts have been reported to the Health Department
The Van Buren/Cass District Health Department is working with Cass County Michigan state University Extension 4H and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) and the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) monitor the situation and work with fair officials to respond to the situation and notify exhibitors.
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hat tip CIDRAP for the link
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