WASECA , Minnesota ( CNN ) -- When you think of protection from the H1N1 flu virus , you may not think the hog population is what needs protecting . But that 's precisely the concern among pork producers and those who use swine in research studies . Professor Samuel Baidoo wears specially issued gear as he checks on the hogs at the research facility . Forget any worries you may have had about catching the often-called `` swine flu '' from a pig . University of Minnesota Professor Samuel Baidoo , a swine nutrition and management expert at one of the school 's swine research facilities , says it 's actually the other way around . `` If we are sick and we come in here , we can easily transfer [ diseases ] , especially flu , to these pigs , '' Baidoo says . Baidoo took CNN on a tour of the university 's research facility to demonstrate the precautions in place year-round to make sure its pig population remains safe . For starters , anyone who wants to visit the facility has to shower and put on specially issued overalls and boots and that rule applies to reporters and even the hog farmers themselves . `` They will shower to go and see their own pigs , '' Baidoo says . This university 's swine research barn is typical of most large-production hog facilities , Baidoo says , stressing that it 's so secure `` flies can not even come in here . '' `` Flu can be transferred by flies , by birds . There 's no way a bird can get into this building . So these pigs are very , very safe , '' he explains . `` We are more a risk to them than they to us . '' So let 's say a pig does happen to come down with a disease , specifically with H1N1 . Then what happens ? Baidoo says the first sign that something is wrong is usually lack of appetite . `` They go off feed , so we know there 's something not right . '' If it does turn out to be a flu virus , Baidoo says , the treatment is very similar to what humans undergo . `` We put them on medication and within three days it 's over . Just like when we get [ the ] flu -- we go to the doctor and then they prescribe medication and we get well . '' Baidoo points out that since H1N1 is a respiratory illness , the actual carcass of the pig -- the pork we eat -- is still harmless . Still , Baidoo says he understands the initial knee-jerk reaction . After all , `` swine flu '' was what everyone called it at first -- before health organizations began referring to it as H1N1 . `` I also see the concern of consumers . When there is this situation everybody tends to connect the two . But there is no connection at all between the flu and pork , '' he says . `` There 's no fear in eating pork based on the scare of the flu pandemic . '' The disease most people in the United States and worldwide have been calling swine flu is actually a combination of human and animal strains . It has not been shown to be transmissible through eating pork . In an already suffering market , the negative news is something the U.S. pork industry says could have been prevented . `` This flu is being called something that it is n't , and it 's hurting our entire industry , '' Dave Warner , communications director for the National Pork Producers Council , said last week . `` It is not a 'swine ' flu , and people need to stop calling it that ... they 're ruining people 's lives . ''
Scientists say our population needs protection from human diseases . Fear over so - called ` ` " flu '' has hit pork industry hard -- and unfairly , many say . Minnesota facility says humans must wear special suits to keep hogs disease - free . ` ` No connection at all between the flu and pork , '' researcher says .