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Pork Producers Face Uncertain Future

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kcur/local-kcur-839332.mp3

Kansas City, Missouri – The conversation among pork producers these days is about how to survive the H1N1 crisis.

When the Centers for Disease Control released the first report of swine flu in late April, hog prices tumbled more than 17%.

Public health officials know the new strain began with swine, but beyond that, they know little about how it will behave.

Officials this weekend made a point to say the current influenza outbreak - although it's killed 12 and infected more than 67 hundred people in the U.S. - is not a pandemic. The virus so far has spread from human to human; the question for farmers is whether the virus will spread through their herds.

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