(WASHINGTON D.C.) - The first cases of humans catching flu from pigs in the U.S. this year both came from Michigan, having previously had an instance last year in Berrien County.

 

The Center for Disease Control is linking each of the cases to county fairs last month in Oakland County outside Detroit and Tuscola County, in what’s known as the "Thumb" section of the state.

 

According to the CDC, one of the cases involved a child, who was a fair exhibitor exposed to infected pigs within 10 days of developing symptoms.  Both people were recovering at home after being given anti-viral drugs to treat the influenza.

 

A human flu infection from a pig is rare but not uncommon. In 2022, Michigan had at least one person come down with flu linked to contact with an infected pig during the Berrien County Youth Fair.

 

Indiana has not had a confirmed case of flu spreading from pig to human since an outbreak blamed on exposure during county fairs in 2012, per Denise Derrer-Spears, a spokesperson for the Indiana Board of Animal Health.

 

Derrer-Spears said she wasn’t sure why there have been no confirmed cases ever since, but state guidelines to minimize the chances of flu spreading from pigs to humans and vice-versa were distributed to operators of county fairs statewide following the outbreak.

 

She explained that the transmission of flu between the species primarily happens at county fairs or pig shows because the animals come from all over and are kept in pens closer to each other than a farm.

 

Another reason is heavy foot traffic, which is restricted primarily to just family members and workers at farms. Like humans, she said, flu in pigs is spread from contact with airborne particles emitted from sneezing and coughing.  Humans can then become infected by touching a pen or whatever else they come into contact with touched by the airborne particles.

 

“That makes that transmission of that virus fairly easy to happen especially when there’s a lot of it in a very small space,” she said.

 

The state guidelines for preventing infection includes not keeping pigs at county fairs or shows in a barn for more than 72 hours to avoid any close-quarters viral build-up. Among the other recommendations are washing hands after having contact with a pig, and not eating or drinking close to the animals so as to avoid any airborne particles making contact with food or drink.

 

“We tell exhibitors and visitors if they’re sick stay out of the barn.  If an animal is sick leave it home or gets sick at the fair, get it out of there,” Derrer-Spears said.

 

The symptoms of contracting flu from pigs are similar to instances where it's caught from other human beings. The symptoms are usually mild, but can become severe depending on the health or age of the individual.

 

“Like seasonal flu, some groups of people are at higher risk of developing serious complications from infections with swine flu viruses,” CDC officials said.

 

Since 2005, more than 90-percent of the 521 confirmed variant flu infections in the U.S. were from exposure to pigs or attendance at agricultural fairs.