As concerns grow over the spreading swine flu pandemic, North Carolina's pork industry finds itself in a public relations battle.

While pigs are not spreading the virus, the name "swine flu" could translate into a lot of money lost.

Hog production is a $2 billion industry in our state with close to 8,000 full time jobs, according to the North Carolina Pork Council.

In all, North Carolina accounts for about 20 percent of the entire country's pig production.

Farmers take any threat to pigs' health seriously, so a threat like swine flu has many people concerned.

"It has not been found in pigs anywhere," said Dr. Barrett Slenning, with NC State University's College of Veterinary Medicine. "We do not even know if it can infect pigs."

Slenning said the state's hog industry has had plans to deal with this sort of thing since 2004, and prevent it from even getting a foothold in North Carolina.

"The industry works day in/day out with seasonal influenzas in pigs just like we have in people," said Slenning. "They have their infrastructure, they have their diagnostics, they know what they need to be doing."

Julian Barham, a Zebulon area farmer agreed.

"We do everything we can to keep any diseases from coming in," said Barham. "And naturally that would work the same way as far as it going out also."

Most hog farms have a slew of rules:
• Trucks are washed and disinfected -- including the tires -- before they come on site.
• The drivers are not even allowed to step foot on the farm.
• All animals brought in are isolated in separate buildings until blood tests come back negative.
• Visitors of any kind are kept out of all barns.

"None of our employees take anything into the farm but themselves," said Barham. "Everybody showers in and everybody showers out."

Barham says the precautions are vital, because producers simply can't afford to lose an entire herd because of one mistake.

One of the other swine flu side effects they're trying to dispel is the concern over pork products.

"Cooking the pork makes it perfectly safe to eat," said Barham.

Experts say even if a pig did have Swine flu, it is only transmittable as an airborne disease.

With all the confusion, some health agencies are even considering renaming "swine flu" to something more appropriate.

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