The federal government has confirmed a pig displayed at the Minnesota State Fair has tested positive for the new swine flu virus.
The Agriculture Department tested samples from the state fair after children in a nearby dormitory got sick with swine flu.
"We've got widespread novel H1N1 in people right now. It's not unexpected that it spills over into pigs," explains the University of Minnesota's Dr. Jeff Bender.
One pig sample tested positive. More tests are being conducted.
The pork industry insists you cannot get swine flu from eating meat from pigs, even if those pigs were sick.
"They get sick. They recover after a couple of days. And then those pigs are perfectly fine, and with this being a respiratory disease, it doesn't get into the meat, so there's no problems with food borne illness," says Jennifer Greiner of the National Pork Producers Council.
The pork industry took a hit last spring when H1N1 emerged and several countries banned american pork.
The government is now reminding those nations that pork is safe.
The bigger concern now is how this virus is affecting humans who were perfectly healthy.
Some have died, others recovered.
Scientists think in some people, the body's immune system overreacts and damages the respiratory tract in the process.
"It's a delicate balance between your body making enough of an immune response to slow down the virus' replication, versus too much of an immune response which can lead to tissue damage in and of itself," explains Dr. Andrew Pekosz.
As for that positive pig sample, could the virus start changing, and no longer be a good match for the vaccine?
Experts say that's unlikely unless it establishes itself in pigs.
That may be something to watch out for in the long term.