Minn. State Fair pig officially had swine flu, but keep scarfing the bacon

Photo by tsuacctnt

​ It's official: A Minnesota State Fair pig caught swine flu, says U.S. Department of Agriculture. This is the first confirmed case of a pig getting H1N1 in the United States.

But don't worry, folks. Your bacon is totally safe. Officials claim you can't get swine flu from eating pork. We're just a little grossed out imagining our bacon as a living pig that is now sniffling and coughing as it goes to the slaughterhouse.

The confirmation comes after a report last week from a university research project about pigs at the state fair this year. Initial tests showed the pigs did contract the virus, but official confirmation came today.

Officials say they didn't act sick, but we like the imagery anyway. They suspect they got swine flu from one of the state fair visitors, but this isn't a sign that it has spread to the commercial herds. Supposedly show pigs are different. Pigs have already contracted the virus in Canada, Australia, Argentina, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and Norway.