First Known U.S. Case of Swine Flu found in three Pigs

by Frank Liao | October 17, 2009 at 01:07 am

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The H1N1 virus, or otherwise known as the swine flu, may have been found in test results of three U.S. pigs at the Minnesota State Fair in late August. The test results are still in its preliminary stage, so it's not known with 100% certainty that the pigs contracted the human disease.

If the test results are confirmed to be positive, then the pigs would be the first in the U.S. to have been infected with the virus Worldwide, cases of the virus transferring from humans to pigs has been found in eight other countries.

The H1N1 virus does not appear to make the pigs very ill. The three pigs that might have been infected at the Minnesota State Fair appeared healthy.

One concern about animals’ harboring the virus is the possibility that viruses will change as they move back and forth between species, perhaps by mixing with other viruses.