The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is confirming the first U.S. case of the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus has been found in a commercial swine herd.
USDA said the pigs as well as the workers on an Indiana hog farm have all recovered and none of the swine are showing clinical signs of the virus.
“Because swine that have recovered from influenza viruses are safe to move to slaughter, the Indiana facility has continued its routine processing practices,” USDA said.
The novel H1N1 virus has been found in several herds in Canada and in a handful of other countries around the world. Indiana Board of Animal Health spokeswoman Denise Derrer refused to disclose the location of the facility or the number of people and pigs that became ill, but said four samples came back positive for the virus.
Indiana State Veterinarian Brett Marsh does not expect the novel H1N1 virus to turn into a serious problem in hogs. “Experience in Canada and other countries indicate that the disease is rather mild in hogs,” he says. Hogs recover quickly after the disease has run its course, so the state board of animal health has no plans to quarantine hog herds that come down with H1N1.