North Carolina is the 4th and most recent state where pigs have been identified with the H1N1 flu virus. The North Carolina Department of Agriculture says the USDA lab in Ames, Iowa has confirmed the virus in samples taken from pigs at two North Carolina farms. A private veterinarian suspected the illness and has monitored the health of the pigs which have fully recovered. The paper says North Carolina ag officials believe the pigs caught the virus from people at both farms. Officials say they are reassuring the public that it’s safe to eat pork from swine that have been previously infected and have recovered from any influenza viruses.
The department says H1N1 has been confirmed in animals in 10 states; including pigs in Minnesota, Indiana and Illinois; cats in Iowa, Oregon and Pennsylvania; ferrets in Oregon; turkeys in Virginia; a dog in New York and a cheetah in California – in each case, the animals apparently caught the virus from humans.
North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services
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