Can You Get Swine Flu at the Fair? - Beckley, Bluefield & Lewisburg News, Weather, Sports

National Health Experts say swine flu has been showing up among pigs at fairs in neighboring states.

But can you get sick from visiting the animals at this week's state fair?

The answer is yes.

While uncommon, you can get a variant strain of swine flu from exposure to a sick pig.

The State Veterinarian is well aware of the recent cases and knows what to look for as the animals come in.

State Veterinarian Jewell Plumley said, "The criteria is if there's a certain temperature and it's symptomatic then they will not even be allowed to unload they will go straight home."

The more threatening problem here is one sick pig spreading swine flu to other pigs at the fair.

Brandon Poling is from Preston County and says his pig getting sick would ruin his summer.

Poling said, "We've got a show in September we don't want to take something home from down here and get our county fair sick and then we're done for the year."

And the animals don't just get checked when they're brought in.

Plumley said, "Even though we do pre-inspections on the farm, we still inspect everything daily at the fair."

The owners said all the hard work is done at home to make sure their pigs are not sick at all. Once they get to the fair all they have to do is give them food, water, and make sure they're clean.

It's up to the vet's this week to keep a close eye on flu symptoms but Lexi Bittinger works all year to keep her's healthy 

Bittinger said, "We have to rinse out their cages to make sure it's always clean so they won't catch diseases or anything."

And keeping things clean and sanitary isn't just important for visitors but it means a lot to the owners too.

Bittinger said, "It's hard, but it's fun."

But they're not too concerned about the flu.

Poling said, "Down here it's pretty clean, we don't have to worry about it because the vets are pretty good."

The most important thing for everyone to remember is wash, wash, wash.

The reports of this variant swine flu infection is no cause for panic, according to the CDC, but there is cause for caution.

CDC leaders say symptoms of swine flu are not any more severe than the seasonal flu.