SWINE FLU FEARS INCREASE AT MOCO FAIR AFTER NEW MIDWEST OUTBREAKS REPORTED

Reports of new swine flu cases at county fairs in the Midwest have some Montgomery County Fair-goers doubly cautious.

Indiana now reports 129 total cases of the new swine flu strain known as H3N2v.  Ohio is second with 31, 10 of those reported this week from a single fair, according to newspaper accounts.

Alena Rhea posted on USAToday.com that she and her son visited the pig exhibition at the Indiana State Fair.  "My 10-year-old son has been sick for 8 days," she wrote.

As I reported last week, the Montgomery County Fair has already taken precautions, not allowing visitors to contact the pigs, and offering handwashing stations.

What do you think about the swine flu outbreak?  Nonsense panic and hype, or something worse?

HOG WILD: SWINE FLU HYSTERIA HITS MONTGOMERY COUNTY

With the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair just days away -  and the CDC reporting swine flu cases in Indiana and Ohio - officials are broadcasting a message to fairgoers:  "Don't touch that pig!"

There is currently no outbreak of swine flu in the state of Maryland.

Some may be overreacting, as happened with the bird flu a few years ago.  Still, it is best to take precautions and wash hands.  How quickly many forget how the county failed to ensure sufficient H1N1 vaccine was available for residents during that scare.  And the federal government was still letting people travel into the country throughout the crisis.

So, don't touch the pigs, and utilize the various opportunities fair directors will be providing to wash hands.  And you, too, can avoid the H3N2v virus.