Despite the name, no hogs in U.S. contract swine flu

By Matt McKinney
The Star Tribune (Minneapolis)

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MINNEAPOLIS -- No pig in the United States has come down with swine flu, but some will by the end of the year in an outbreak expected to slap hog farmers with production losses amid an already difficult year, USDA officials say.

The H1N1 virus could even be spread to pigs by a sickened person, an ironic twist on fears that wracked the nation earlier this year when "swine flu" had consumers shying away from pork.

Pork from a pig sickened by H1N1 does not pose a health threat to consumers, the officials said. But an outbreak of H1N1 in a farmer's herd likely would cut into profits by slowing the animals' growth, said Kenneth Petersen, an assistant administrator with the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service.

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U.S. farmers long have used flu vaccines to beat back other flu varieties, with 58 million doses of vaccine injected into animals last year.

The H1N1 flu virus does not come from pigs. The H1N1 virus itself is a combination of avian influenza, human influenza and swine influenza. Early tests of the virus detected only the swine influenza portion.

The USDA said it has contracted five companies to develop an H1N1 vaccine for hogs. The virus has been found in pigs in Australia, Canada and Argentina.

"We're ready," deputy secretary of the USDA Kathleen Merrigan told reporters in a conference call.