Ionia County resident confirmed with swine flu after county fair

Michigan health officials confirmed a case of influenza A H1N2 variant, commonly called swine flu, in an Ionia County resident who exhibited swine at the Kent County Youth Fair. The fair ran Aug. 3-8 at the Grand Agricultural Center of West Michigan in Lowell.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Bureau of Laboratories first identified the case as presumptive positive, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed it Friday. The case follows a report earlier in the week that a pig at the fair died suddenly and several others showed signs of illness, with swine flu detected in the animals.

State and Kent County health officials are contacting swine exhibitors and their families who visited the fair's swine barns to check for additional illnesses. Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, the state's chief medical executive, said the risk to the general public remains low but urged fair visitors to watch for flu-like symptoms, notify their health care provider of any contact with pigs at the fair, and stay home if sick until fully recovered.

Read the full story at outbreaknewstoday.substack.com.