--- title: Pigs at Fairs Gave More than a Dozen Children Swine Flu: CDC description: Pigs are to blame for why more than a dozen children fell ill with a new type of swine flu earlier this year, federal health officials said. canonical: https://time.com/4548626/pigs-swine-flu-children-fairs/ author: Melissa Chan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-10-27T22:53:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T10:20:26.176Z article:section: Health og:title: Pigs at Fairs Gave More than a Dozen Children Swine Flu: CDC og:description: The type of swine flu they contracted had not been previously seen in humans og:url: https://time.com/4548626/pigs-swine-flu-children-fairs/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt15c825e09e269b96/6988abee196cf42cc103dbb6/pig-swine-flu.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Misconceptions Surrounding Eating Pork And The Swine Flu Lower Hog Prices og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Pigs at Fairs Gave More than a Dozen Children Swine Flu: CDC twitter:description: The type of swine flu they contracted had not been previously seen in humans twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt15c825e09e269b96/6988abee196cf42cc103dbb6/pig-swine-flu.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Pigs at Fairs Gave More than a Dozen Children Swine Flu, CDC Says  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Oct 27, 2016 10:53 PM UTC  ELMA, IA - APRIL 28: Hogs are raised on the farm of Gordon and Jeanine Lockie April 28, 2009 in Elma, Iowa. Hog farmers who have been battered by rising feed prices are now faced with plummeting hog prices driven in part by misconceptions about the relationship of Swine Flu to eating pork and recent import bans on raw U.S. pork by some countries. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) ELMA, IA - APRIL 28: Hogs are raised on the farm of Gordon and Jeanine Lockie April 28, 2009 in Elma, Iowa. Hog farmers who have been battered by rising feed prices are now faced with plummeting hog prices driven in part by misconceptions about the relationship of Swine Flu to eating pork and recent import bans on raw U.S. pork by some countries. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)Scott Olson—Getty Images  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Oct 27, 2016 10:53 PM UTC [Pigs are to blame](http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/27/health/swine-flu-fairs/index.html?sr=twCNN102716swine-flu-fairs1004PMVODtopPhoto&linkId=30426518) for more than a dozen children falling ill with a new type of swine flu earlier this year, federal health officials said Thursday. All 18 people, including 16 children, were [sickened](http://www.whio.com/news/local/two-children-infected-with-swine-flu-after-clark-county-fair/697wfhnuGfVOqcjiX6g0ON/) after coming into close contact with pigs at family-friendly agricultural fairs in Michigan and Ohio in August, CNN reported, citing a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The infected patients, who have since fully recovered, said they either touched a pig or passed through a barn that had pigs. The type of [swine flu](http://www.cdc.gov/flu/swineflu/keyfacts%5Fpigs.htm) they contracted had not been previously seen in humans, the CDC said. \[[_CNN_](http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/27/health/swine-flu-fairs/index.html?sr=twCNN102716swine-flu-fairs1004PMVODtopPhoto&linkId=30426518)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4548626/pigs-swine-flu-children-fairs/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4548626/pigs-swine-flu-children-fairs/"},"headline":"Pigs at Fairs Gave More than a Dozen Children Swine Flu, CDC Says","datePublished":"2016-10-27T22:53:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T10:20:26.176Z","description":"The type of swine flu they contracted had not been previously seen in humans","url":"https://time.com/4548626/pigs-swine-flu-children-fairs/","keywords":["Public Health","animals"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt15c825e09e269b96/6988abee196cf42cc103dbb6/pig-swine-flu.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt15c825e09e269b96/6988abee196cf42cc103dbb6/pig-swine-flu.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Misconceptions Surrounding Eating Pork And The Swine Flu Lower Hog Prices","caption":"","creditText":"Scott Olson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/public-health/","name":"Public Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4548626/pigs-swine-flu-children-fairs/","name":"Pigs at Fairs Gave More than a Dozen Children Swine Flu, CDC Says"}}]}] ```