Sumter, SC (WLTX) - With your local fairs around the corner, make sure you wash your hands because a new strain of the swine flu is out.
"About every year we get some kind of flu warning," said Russell Singleton.
Singleton works with pigs every day, and with the swine flu popping up every year, he is very cautious when dealing with his animals.
"Hand washing is it. It's the main line of defense," said Singleton.
His pigs are raised organically, meaning they aren't confined amongst hundreds of pigs and they don't take medicine. The USDA says that organic pigs are less prone to getting sick.
"The ones that they are more likely to find are those that are raised in the intensive confinement operations."
With many of you going to your local state fairs... it is important to take the same precautions that farmers use while around pigs; washing your hands.
"Use it coming in and use it going out and don't take food or drink in the animal barns."
Singleton says warning signs to see if a pig may be sick are simple.
"Just like a person if they are sneezing, coughing or just not acting normal, that's when we would start looking to see if something is wrong."
This summer more than 250 people have been infected with the new strand of swine flu. The most cases of more than 145 are in Indiana.
"People with compromised immune systems such as the elderly or very young the would be the most likely to catch it.
Doctors say the H3N2 is not as strong as swine flu's in recent years. Singleton is hoping the scare wont detour people from buying pork.
"We want people to not be afraid to eat pork. We don't want this to be a big scare and pork sales to go plummeting."