Ionia County resident diagnosed with swine flu after Kent County fair

An Ionia County resident who exhibited swine at the Kent County Youth Fair has tested positive for a variant strain of influenza A known as H1N2, or swine flu, state and local health officials said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the case Friday after a presumptive positive test at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Bureau of Laboratories.

The fair ran Aug. 3-8 at the Grand Agricultural Center of West Michigan in Lowell. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and the Kent County Health Department are contacting swine exhibitors and their families who visited the fair's swine barns to check for additional illnesses linked to exposure to infected pigs. The Kent County Health Department has also alerted local health care providers to watch for patients with respiratory symptoms who report contact with swine or attendance at the fair.

Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, the state's chief medical executive, said the risk to the general public remains low but urged fairgoers who develop flu-like symptoms to contact a health care provider and mention any recent contact with pigs, and to stay home until fully recovered. State Veterinarian Dr. Nora Wineland said flu viruses in pigs are not unusual and can rarely spread to people, and encouraged exhibitors to follow disease-prevention practices with their veterinarians.

Officials said there is no human vaccine for swine flu and the seasonal flu shot does not protect against it, though antiviral drugs such as oseltamivir and zanamivir can treat it in humans, with early treatment working best.

Read the full story at michigan.gov.