Child Who Visited County Fair Is Michigan's First Swine Flu Case Of '17

ALLEGAN, Mich. (WWJ/AP) - Health officials say a child who visited a county fair in western Michigan last month is the first confirmed case of swine flu in the state this year.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and the Allegan County Health Department reported the child visited the Allegan County Fair that ran Sept. 8-16, 2017. They say that because the incubation period for the illness is one to seven days, no new cases from exposure at the fair are expected.

The flu is known as a variant of H3N2 and there's currently no vaccine for it.

Allegan County Health Officer Angelique Joynes noted in an interview with the Allegan News that the seasonal flu vaccine will not protect against H3N2v.

"This variant flu virus has rarely been shown to spread from person to person," Joynes added, "but any individual with flu-like-symptoms should contact his or her medical provider and the health department,"

Human infection is thought to happen when an infected pig coughs or sneezes and droplets with influenza virus land in someone's nose or mouth, or are inhaled. There also is some evidence that the virus might spread by someone touching something that has virus on it and then touching their mouth or nose.

Symptoms of infection are usually mild and similar to those of seasonal flu viruses. But as with seasonal flu, complications can lead to hospitalization and death. Symptoms include fever and respiratory symptoms, such as cough and runny nose, as well as body aches, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea.

Some populations are at higher risk of developing complications if they get influenza, including children younger than five years of age, people 65 years of age and older, pregnant women, and people with certain long-term health conditions like asthma, diabetes, heart disease, weakened immune systems, and neurological or neurodevelopmental conditions.

[Get more information from the state at this link].

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