A professor at the Atlantic Veterinary College in Charlottetown is part of a group advising the international farm community on how to avoid spreading the H1N1 virus to their livestock.

Farmers need to be aware that although the H1N1 flu is a human virus, it can be spread to animals, particularly swine, Dr. Dan Hurnik explained.

"The other thing we've learned in the last two or three months, because the situation changes, is that it has also been able to spread to turkeys, and also ferrets, and most recently there has been a case where the virus was spread to household cats," he said.

Basic common sense should prevail, Hurnik said. People who have influenza symptoms should stay away from animals that are susceptible.