State health officials say Michigan has recorded its first human case this year of a potentially serious pig-borne flu virus.
The child who fell ill with H3N2 is recovering. The child was showing swine at the Berrien County Youth Fair earlier this month.
H3N2 is carried by swine. When a person catches this flu bug, it’s like any other form of influenza. The infected person can develop a fever, runny nose or cough. Also like the regular flu, the symptoms can become serious.
“H3N2v, which is what we refer to as the human variant of it, that is that is not covered under the season flu vaccine and there’s actually not a vaccine for it,” says Angela Minicuci is with the Department of Community Health.
State Agriculture officials have told the operators of eight upcoming county fairs to be on the lookout for H3N2.
Minicuci says H3N2 is not a food safety risk, but still she says slaughterhouses have also been told to monitor incoming swine.
