Dunn County teen comes down with swine flu from state fair

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A young Wisconsin State Fair exhibitor from Dunn County is one of two Wisconsin residents to have contracted H3N2 (H3N2v) influenza, otherwise known as swine flu.

The Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene confirmed two cases of the virus in Wisconsin.

Test results indicate one of the infections occurred in an adult from southeastern Wisconsin who worked at the Wisconsin State Fair. The individual did not report direct contact with swine.

A second H3N2v infection has been detected in an adolescent who was a swine exhibitor at the Wisconsin State Fair and lives in Dunn County, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.

The individuals are recovering from their illness and have not been hospitalized.

Since July 2012, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported more than 150 cases of human infections with H3N2v influenza in Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Hawaii and Michigan. These human infections have all occurred in persons exposed to, or in proximity to, pigs.

When an influenza virus that normally circulates in swine is detected in a person, it is called a variant influenza virus. Influenza viruses such as H3N2 and its variants are not unusual in swine and can be directly transmitted from swine to people and from people to swine.

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