The state Department of Health says the number of confirmed cases in Ohio now sits at 54, with most involving people who’ve had direct contact with hogs at county fairs. The biggest pocket of cases came in southwest Ohio’s Butler county…officials say they’ve found eight cases in Champaign County, three in Clark County, two cases in Franklin County, and one case each in Morrow and Ross counties.

Health officials have not found any infections that have passed from person-to-person. They say this year’s H3N2 strain is not as strong as the 2009 strain that killed more than 12,000 people.

Vilsack planned Friday to visit the Ohio State Fair in Columbus and was expected to talk about the drought at the Ohio Agricultural Council breakfast.

This week, 218 counties in a dozen drought-stricken states were added to the federal government’s list of natural disaster areas as Vilsack unveiled new help for frustrated, cash-strapped farmers and ranchers grappling with extreme dryness and heat. That means more than half of all U.S. counties have been designated primary disaster areas this growing season, mostly due to drought.

State officials said last week that most of Ohio was in a moderate drought. It was more severe in northwest and west-central Ohio.

One state agency is all business at this year’s Fair.

Not far from the rides…next door to the sheep barns, and just off the stretch where all things fried are served up, is the Marketplace. It’s like a giant refrigerator in the summer heat, and tucked away in this building at the Ohio State Fair is a different kind of fair.

“It’s an actual working job fair,” says Michael Colbert, the director the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

“We’ve got some 77 employers to date that are now going to be here through the 11 days of the fair, and they’ve actually signed on to do interviews, and some of them will actually do hiring,” Colbert says.

Colbert says this is the second go-round for the Ohio State Fair Job Fair.

9,000 people came through his agency’s booth last year, and while he doesn’t have any figures on how many people got hired, he calls it a success because people connected with employers, and more employers signed on this year to take advantage of the possibility of talking to some of the more than 800,000 people who are estimated to visit this year’s fair.

“I think the real success is making the contact with the employer, getting an interview, and having a probability of getting a job. Of course, we can’t guarantee a job. But if you’re talking to an employer, you got a better chance of getting a job.”

The booth also includes information on other benefits and opportunities available to unemployed Ohioans via the Ohio Benefit Bank.

The entertainment begins Wednesday and will include live performances, arts and crafts, and new takes on old food staples, including funnel cakes that taste like pumpkin spice, chocolate brownie and pineapple-upside-down cake.

Concerts at this year’s fair include shows from Merle Haggard, Chicago, Kansas, the Doobie Brothers, Gavin McGraw, and Jason Aldean.

Fair officials announced Tuesday that this year’s butter sculpture will be a birthday cake celebrating Columbus’ bicentennial.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich is scheduled to deliver opening remarks. Other events scheduled will include a stuntman trying to jam people into a 6-foot latex balloon for a world record and a singing competition modeled after “American Idol.”

More than 830,000 people visited the fair last year at the Ohio Expo Center. It runs through Aug. 5.

“Its a great idea. I mean we’re here, People need jobs. Employers need workers,” Terez said. “So it’s a perfect venue to connect them.”

Last month Ohio’s jobless rate inched up again. Terez cautions against reading too much into the most recent job figures saying Ohio is enduring a “long, slow, recovery.” On the midway at the State Fair, Kelly Restler of Wayne County had a similar assessment.

“Its still not picking up like the rest of the country,” Restler said. “I don’t see Ohio’s job market recuperating like the rest of the U.S.”

Restler works as an accountant in a small town near Wooster. She said she has especially noticed a change in behavior among banks.

“I think our banking industry is restricting our ability to expand businesses. So, they’re not loaning money,” she said. “And, the businesses can’t expand and the jobs are going other places.”

Seventeen-year-old Julie Wagner of Marion County is working for her family’s business at the State Fair this year. She considers herself lucky because so few of her friends can find their first jobs.

“Our jobs are becoming rarer and rarer for people to find,” Wagner said. “It just seems like everybody, if they’re out of a job, it’s harder and harder to find one.”

And Wagner said she’s noticed something else: competition for the jobs that are available has grown more intense. More older adults are looking for jobs that, in the past, might be filled by teens and younger adults.

“I do know a lot of people who, they can’t find jobs my age. And its just because older people have to take their jobs,” she said. “So its harder and harder for them to find them.”

A little further down the Midway, Tony Dials of Canal Winchester stops to offer his assessment of Ohio’s job picture. Dials sees some brighter spots.

“I think its doing better. At least from my point of view,” Dials said. “I’m in the technology field. And, we are opening jobs and still trying to hire people in our field.”

But he adds a caveat, he thinks the economy has turned only recently.

“Only in the past year for us have we been able to go ahead and start hiring people,” he said. “So its been a recent thing.”

Back at the Department of Job and Family Services Booth, Terez said all employers who participate in the State Fair Job Fair have current job openings. The booth also has real-time online links to the agency’s job bank.

“Right now, today, Ohio Means Jobs has 82,000 job postings on line,” Terez said. “And also more than three million resumes that employers can search through.”

That means the ratio of resumes to listed openings on the Ohio Means Jobs website is about 36,000 to one. The site lists jobs from companies ohio and within 50 miles of the state’s borders.

Upon entering the Taste of Ohio Cafe nestled near the middle of the Midway, a visitor sees banners announcing the availability of Ohio pork, corn, beef, poultry and lamb.

Finding the wine stand is more difficult. Tucked unannounced to the side of the circular building housing, the cafe sits a small display featuring Ohio made wines. Christie Eckstein is the executive director of the Ohio Grape Industries’ Committee. She said when the Committee began in 1981, Ohio counted about 30 wineries.

“We now have 150 wineries in the state,” she said. “We’ve grown by five times almost and with that though we’ve grown in the last 36 months by about one-and-a-half to two new wineries a month opening their doors.”

Eckstein said having a wine display at the fair gives consumers a chance to experiment with the vast array of Ohio wines.

“Our brand is ‘Ohio wines: Love at first sip’ and it’s really getting it into the mouths of the people and that’s what happening here is they’re pleasantly surprised at what it is that they get to taste,” Eckstein said.

While at the fair, the Ohio Grape Industries’ Committee is working with its neighbors in the cafe who sell corn along with beef, poultry, pork and lamb sandwiches. Cards with suggested wine pairings have been placed at each booth.

“There cabernet franc is suggested to go with our roasted lamb sandwich and their sparkling grape juice with our gyro,” said Quenton Vignernon.

The Ohio Sheep Association’s Quenton Vignernon mans the Lamb sandwich booth. He thinks the new display helps inform consumers about the quality of Ohio wines.

“I think Ohio wine’s definitely taking off a lot too. Here in the past it’s only been about the last four or five years or so that it’s really started to get big but I think people are starting to notice it a little and how good it is,” Vignernon said.

At the Ohio cattleman’s beef stand, vendor Betsy Grove agrees. She said wine sales in the cafe could be beneficial for all of the vendors.

“I believe it could be if some people are drawn in to test out the wine and then they realize that they’re suggesting to try it with specific foods it could help our sales as well,” Grove said.

Amy Crutchfield drove from Mansfield to Columbus specifically to attend the fair. She said she didn’t know when she got to the cafe that Ohio wine was available this year. It was the suggested wine pairings at another booth that tipped her off.

“I looked at one of those sample cards over at the beef area while I was waiting for my sandwich and then the person at the beef counter told me that they were sampling them over here,” Crutchfield said.

Worthington resident Valerie Kerbler made the wine display a definite destination when she came to the fair this year.

“I wanted to try something different,” she said. “We’re going up to Geneva-on-the-Lake this weekend and try Firelands Wine. We’ve been there before. We like their wine. ”

And it would seem many people like the idea of trying Ohio’s wine at the State Fair.

“We have had a huge, tremendous response,” said concessionaire Pam Cox. “Positive. Very, very positive today on the selling of wine at the State Fair.”

Ohio beers are also featured at the Fair this year. Beer is available at the Celeste Center during concerts and lottery events.