There they stood, Tabitha and Sabrina, the loneliest animals at the Queens Zoo in Flushing.
Despite the name “swine flu,” it’s extremely rare for humans to be infected by being near a pig.
But most people don’t know that, so Tabitha and Sabrina, two female hogs, were left all but ostracized yesterday, along with their Vietnamese pot-bellied pal, Barbie.
“I would never let my kids try to pet the pigs. I wouldn’t let my kids feed the pigs because of the saliva,” said Lorie Cudzil, 33, who brought her son, Sean, 3, and daughter, Abigail, 17 months, to the zoo.
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“They say it’s a human-to-human virus, but it raises a good question: How did the first person get swine flu?” she asked.
A zookeeper said, “I’m working with pigs today, and I did wonder if I can get swine flu. But if I get the flu, I get the flu. I’ll just have to call in sick.”
Dr. William Karesh, the chief vet for the Wildlife Conservation Society, said the virus that’s circulating now is causing the flu in humans, not pigs.