Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner Mike Strain, D.V.M., said despite concern in the media about the H1N1 flu virus, Louisiana residents cannot contract the flu by eating domestic pork or wild hogs.
“The H1N1 virus influenza is not a food-borne illness,” Strain said. “Pork is absolutely safe to eat. Just make sure you continue to practice good food handling procedures and cook the pork meat to 160 degrees.”
Strain said the H1N1 influenza virus that has infected 1,085 people worldwide has been called the swine flu incorrectly in the media but it is a misnomer.
“In the past, health officials noticed that outbreaks of flu in a family were often followed immediately by illness in their swine herds, thus it was mislabeled as swine flu,” Strain said. “Regardless of what the illness is called, our U.S. pork and pork products are safe to eat.”
Strain said the LDAF is monitoring the situation and has a plan in place to test hogs, if a human/animal disease link is identified. |