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A pig is seen during a campaign by Peru's Agriculture Ministry to promote the consumption of pork in Lima May 5, 2009. REUTERS/Enrique Castro-Mendivil
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Agriculture Department on Monday said it found the pandemic H1N1 influenza virus for the first time in a commercial swine herd.
USDA said in a statement the pigs as well as caretakers have fully recovered. It noted none of the swine at the Indiana facility are showing clinical signs of the virus.
"Because swine that have recovered from influenza viruses are safe to move to slaughter, the Indiana facility has continued its routine processing practices," USDA said.
Last week, USDA said six pigs shown at the Minnesota State Fair in September have been confirmed as having had the pandemic H1N1 flu virus. The USDA found the virus in the first U.S. hog on October 19 -- one of the six positives from the fair.
The new strain of H1N1 virus, which has genetics from humans, birds and swine, likely circulated undetected in pigs for at least a decade before jumping to humans, according to an expert at the University of Arizona.
Swine flu, common in hogs around the world, causes fever and coughing in pigs, which usually recover from the illness. The virus has been found in several herds in Canada.
The new H1N1 virus, which emerged in March and was declared a pandemic in June, is circulating the globe and is common among people in most U.S. states.
(Reporting by Christopher Doering; Editing by Christian Wiessner)
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