By TIM ALEXANDER
Illinois Correspondent

WASHINGTON, D.C. — As the nation’s pork producers’ profits continue to tumble in the wake of news that the presence of the H1N1 virus was found in show pigs at the Minnesota State Fair, members of the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) took to Capitol Hill last week to ask Congress to come to the aid of the pork industry.

Dr. Jennifer Greiner, director of science and technology for the Des Moines, Iowa-based NPPC, said the public should know that pigs are among a host of animals that can contract the flu, but the respiratory virus does not affect the meat or blood of the animal.
“Pigs have gotten influenza since the early 1900s,” said Greiner, in an NPPC news release dated Oct. 21. “Yes, it takes on different shapes and forms, but we have been dealing with influenza viruses for many years.”

Greiner went on to say the Minnesota pig confirmed wi...