Forget people! The real concern for farmers is not that humans get swine flu from pigs ... it's the other way around!
Humans have it. Pigs don't. At least not yet, and U.S. pork producers are doing everything they can to make sure that the new H1N1 virus, known around the world as the "swine flu," stays out of their herds.
"That is the biggest concern, that your herd could somehow contract this illness from an infected person," said Kansas hog farmer Ron Suther, who is banning visitors from his sow barns and requiring maintenance workers, delivery men and other strangers to report on recent travels and any illness before they step foot on his property.
"If a person is sick, we don't want you coming anywhere on the farm," Suther said.
Previously on Neatorama:
- Scientists: Swine Flu Milder Than Run-Of-The-Mill Winter Flu
- Swine Flu: Bacon's Revenge
- What is Swine Flu? How Does an Animal Disease Spread to a Human Host?
- 5 Deadliest Pandemics in History
I strongly suspect that there are numerous other cases in Canada, US and Mexico, but are going unreported (much like how Mad Cow disease had been very prevalent in American beef, but had gone unreported until well after the fact, and after infected cattle had moved to Canada, which then infected Canadian beef. The media released this information immediately, and the Canadian Beef industry took a few years to recover.