People exposed to pigs at the Minnesota State Fair contract variant flu strain

The Minnesota Department of Health has reported two human cases of H3N2v, a strain of influenza A, after people were exposed to pigs at the State Fair. The CDC said the two fairgoers are under the age of 18 and sought health care in early September.

One patient is said to have had direct contact with pigs while the other had indirect contact. Neither of them had been in contact with one another at the fair. 

The Minnesota Department of Health does not anticipate further spread, MDH epidemiologist Melissa McMahon said.

“Typically, humans don’t pass it to another human in the way that they would a normal human flu strain,” McMahon said.  

McMahon said infection can occur in cases where people who are not typically exposed to pigs come in close contact and are exposed to respiratory droplets, but it does not always happen.  

“It’s not a very severe illness in humans, it’s like the regular flu. It can be mild to severe, but it’s not symptomatically, or in terms of severity, all that different from human flu,” McMahon said.  

She said infection does not only occur through close or direct contact, but it can occur when touching surfaces that pigs have been in contact with. McMahon and the Minnesota Department of Health encourage people to wash their hands after visiting agricultural farms or events and to maintain distance from the animals.  

Both fairgoers have recovered from their symptoms and were not hospitalized.  

The CDC reported that nine other variants of influenza have been reported during the 2023-2024 season. 

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