Pigs get protection from swine flu

USDA says vaccine may be ready in early winter.

With a vaccination for pigs yet to be developed, hog farmers are now taking precautions to ensure their pigs don't catch swine flu from people, according to The Wall Street Journal.

USDA scientists are reportedly "evaluating an experimental vaccine" but spokesman Ed Curlett said the development of a vaccine would probably come well into winter.

U.S. health and agriculture officials have assured consumers that the H1N1 virus can't be transmitted in pork, but industry watchers said swine producers could suffer owing to baseless fear among customers.

"The virus has only been isolated from the respiratory tract and not from other tissues," a document issued by the USDA stated. "The virus was not isolated in meat and, therefore, the novel H1N1 is not a food safety issue."

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