Pigs killed after swine flu found in two

After at least two hogs tested positive for swine influenza, almost 50 pigs on exhibit at the Franklin County Fair were removed Wednesday evening for slaughter.

Livestock areas have been disinfected and no swine flu is present on the fairgrounds, the Franklin County Agricultural Society said in a Facebook post Thursday afternoon. The fair will continue as planned through Saturday.

“The Ohio Department of Agriculture was contacted immediately and every protocol was followed,” the post said. “Anyone coming to the fairgrounds can feel comfortable that the grounds are safe.”

Organizers say it was the first appearance of swine flu — in this case, H1N1 — at the Franklin County Fair in recent history.

All 48 pigs removed from the fairground were destined for a slaughter facility, said Ohio Department of Agriculture spokesman Mark Bruce. They will be processed for market by Friday morning, he said, and the meat will be safe to eat.

Swine flu can be transmitted to humans by direct contact with pigs. Symptoms in humans develop about one to three days after exposure to the virus and are similar to other flu strains: cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, watery eyes, body aches, fatigue, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, and sometimes a fever, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Before the incident, Franklin County Public Health officials already had been circulating the fairgrounds with hand sanitizer and information on swine safety, said department spokeswoman Mitzi Kline.

“We were on alert because of what happened in Clinton County,” she said. “Fair season always poses the risk for swine flu.”

Last week, state officials ordered 300 hogs slaughtered after the discovery of at least two swine flu cases at the Clinton County Fair. The two incidents are unrelated,

however, as officials found a different strain of influenza, H3N2, in Clinton County, which is in southwest Ohio.

“They’re not connected,” Bruce said.

On Friday, Dr. Tony Forshey, state veterinarian with the Ohio Department of Agriculture, will hold a news conference outside the Clark County Fair’s hog barn to highlight steps for ensuring safety during the rest of the fair season.

At the Franklin County Fair, all hogs on exhibit were removed by 10 p.m. Wednesday — hours after the positive test results and little more than a day after a 4-H exhibitor first noticed his animals not looking well.

“It all moved very quickly,” said Stephanie Rauschenbach, the fair’s spokeswoman.

Fair officials across the state should look to the Franklin County Fair’s rapid response as a model for potential cases of swine flu on fairgrounds, Bruce said.

“They did everything right,” he said. “The sooner you identify that animal that’s not looking right … you do everything you can to get that animal isolated as soon as possible. And that’s what they did here.”

The Ohio State Fair, which starts next week, is still planning on having pigs, said fair spokeswoman Alicia Shoults.

The Franklin County Agricultural Society and the county Health Department urged fair visitors experiencing flu-like symptoms to contact a medical professional. They also reminded attendees to wash their hands thoroughly after visiting livestock areas during the remainder of the fair, and to keep food, drinks, strollers, sippy cups and pacifiers out of barn exhibits.

4-H hog exhibitors will still participate in a Saturday auction without their animals, which had already been judged and awarded prizes earlier this week, Rauschenbach said.

“These kids have worked really hard to take care of their hogs,” she said. “We want to make sure we honor their hard work.”