Sheila McLaughlin reports
The number of confirmed H3N2v swine flu cases from the Butler County Fair has risen to 14, the Ohio Department of Health reported Monday.
The Centers for Disease Control also confirmed a case from Clark County linked to swine at the Ohio State Fair.
Last week after the outbreak of the flu was questioned at the Butler County Fair, public health officials began warning fair goers to avoid direct contact with hogs, not to eat or drink in the swine barns and to use hand sanitizer.
With county fairs running through the first week of October, the Ohio Department of Agriculture is asking fair veterinarians to report sick hogs and to obtain swab samples so they can be tested for H3N2v.
Swine flu symptoms are much like that of the seasonal flu and include cough, sore throat, fever, body aches and possibly nausea, vomiting or diarrhea.
It is not life-threatening in people with a normal immune system.
The Ohio cases involved children and adults ages 3 to 36 and none resulted in hospitalization.
The H3N2v virus is typically spread from pigs to humans, or vice versa. Health officials are studying the virus to determine if it is mutating to allow transmission more readily between humans.
Cases of the same flu virus have been confirmed in Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Pennsylvania, Utah and West Virginia since last month.
