Oct 17, 2009 6:34 pm US/Central
Unfounded H1N1 Flu Fears Hit Pork Producers Hard
WASECA, Minn. (WCCO) ―
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Since the H1N1 flu threat began, Zimmerman said the average pork producer has lost between $15 and $30 on every pig they have sold. (File)
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For five generations the Zimmerman family has successfully run Pinedale Farms near Waseca. They have survived a Great Depression, shaky markets and recessions.
But lately it has been a flu virus that has given Paul Zimmerman a bit of a headache.
"It has just been not a pleasant issue to deal with," said Zimmerman.
Since the H1N1 flu threat began, Zimmerman said the average pork producer has lost between $15 and $30 on every pig they have sold.
"If you are a typical farmer around here in Waseca County, you know you are selling 4,000 or 2,000 or 10,000 pigs a year and you do the math on that, that's a lot of money. That's money that generally stays in the local economy here in Waseca," said Zimmerman.
What's most troubling to Zimmerman is that he believes it doesn't have to be that way. On Friday, preliminary tests showed some Minnesota pigs have been infected with the virus. But even so, health officials have made it clear that people cannot get sick from eating pork.
"There is absolutely no risk for anybody ingesting a pork or pork product of an animal that has had H1N1," said Gene Hugoson, Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture.
On his farm, Zimmerman keeps his 2,500 sows comfortably and safely inside buildings using bio-security. To get to them, a person has to shower and put on coveralls. It is all about keeping his swine herd as healthy as possible.
"How did the swine industry get a bad rap on this? I wish we could have called it like, 'Venezuelan flu' when it came out or something," said Zimmerman.
The pork industry has also lost billions in exports to other countries. State health officials said people can give the virus to pigs and that the virus acts the same in both people and swine. In most cases it lasts for a couple days and then goes away.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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