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Daily Archives: November 5, 2009
H1N1 swine flu infects commercial swine in USA, reports USDA
The pork industry desperately wants you to believe “the Big Lie” about swine flu: That it can’t infect pigs, and therefore it’s perfectly safe to buy and eat lots and lots of pork products.
It’s a merry little tale, and it would be a nice little piece of information to pass along if only it were true.
But it isn’t.
H1N1 swine flu can and does infect pigs. And the safety margin for eating pork products from H1N1-infected pigs is not well known.
In fact, the USDA just confirmed H1N1 infections in commercial pigs (the kind used to make those pork chops you ate for breakfast). This is the first time that a commercial herd of pigs has been publicly acknowledged to be infected with H1N1 swine flu by the USDA. (And we all know from watching the USDA’s behavior on mad cow disease that the agency goes to great lengths to downplay any such reports…)
The timing of the announcement is, not surprisingly, highly suspicious. Just a few days ago, the USDA negotiated an end to the pork import ban placed on U.S. pork products by China. Before the ink on that agreement was even dry, the USDA — surprise! — announced they had discovered this H1N1 infection in commercial swine in the U.S.
This particular commercial herd of swine was located in Indiana. (The USDA isn’t saying where.) But here’s the best part: The USDA did not ban those pigs from being used in the food supply! At least I couldn’t find any such report after scouring the web looking for one. This means these swine flu infected pigs could end up on your dinner table (if you eat pork, that is).
This isn’t the first report of H1N1 infecting pigs in the USA, by the way. A few weeks ago, H1N1 infections were confirmed in show pigs at the Minnesota State Fair. Nobody seemed to care, since people weren’t planning on eating those show pigs (“Looks good on stage, but tastes even better on the plate!”), but now that H1N1 has been found in commercial herds, suddenly things seem different.
H1N1 swine flu has already been detected in swine herds in Canada, Australia, the UK and many other countries, according to an AP report. So this discovery isn’t exactly the world’s first.
Of course, any rational pork eater would have already figured out by now that the H1N1 virus is so mild, it poses virtually no health risk to anyone with some vitamin D and a healthy immune system. So technically speaking, even H1N1-infected pork probably poses no real threat to your health.
Then again, eating pork isn’t a very rational act to begin with, especially given that pigs are smarter than Man’s Best Friend (your family dog) and that they’re treated quite inhumanely in the pork producing factories and slaughterhouses. But I guess if you’re crazy enough to eat dead pig flesh, a little extra H1N1 probably won’t cause you any more harm.
By the way, H1N1 has also crossed from humans to cats and infected a cat in Iowa (http://content.usatoday.com/communi…). Since H1N1 already contains viral fragments of bird flu, human flu and swine flu, it makes me wonder how crazy things might get if it now starts combining with house cats. Could we soon be looking at Feline Swine Flu?
Ukraine: Influenza or Pneumonic Plague? The situation is getting worse and worse
Ukrainian News Agency “Fraza” reported that, according to informed sources, “it has been confirmed 100 % Pneumonic Plague in Ukraine”.
The Agency asserts that “the head physician of the medical institutions has sent out an informal disposal – not to sow panic, to refute the information about the plague, and to speak only of swine influenza”.
It is also required to distribute masks at health facilities with 8 levels of protection and anti-plague protection costumes. There is also an informal order not to allow any visitors to see the patients.
According to the “Fraza” agency, “today in Ukraine pneumonic plague is going in parallel with swine flu. The plague has killed over 60 people, and about 14 from the flu.
Meanwhile, the press service of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine reported that there is only one death from “California” virus A/N1N1 in Ukraine.
“In Ukraine there are 22 cases recorded of the virus A/N1N1 disease and there is only one fatal consequence as a result. All other cases of death from influenza has only a speculative attitude to “California” virus,” press service reports.
The situation with the epidemic of influenza is a complex and unpredictable because of the propensity of influenza A/H1N1 virus to mutation, said First Deputy Minister of Health Mr. Lazoryshynets on Monday, November 2.
“The situation is complicated and unpredictable. We found a strain of this virus in our laboratory … This virus is dangerous because it can mutate, and we can get a very different kind of virus, which was in Latin America or in Mexico, now it is European “, – said Lazoryshynets at a press conference, the “Correspondent” magazine informs.
At a press conference Lazoryshynets also said that there are 22 officially confirmed cases of influenza A/H1N1 in Ukraine.
First Vice Prime Minister Oleksandr Turchinov previously stated that as of Monday morning, November 2, there are 64 registered deaths in Ukraine from flu and acute respiratory viral infections.
Meantime, according to official information the highest level of epidemiological risk is declared in Ivano-Frankivsk (Stanislav) area, from 2 November. This decision was made by Ivano-Frankivsk Regional emergency epidemiological commission at the extended session on November 2.
In accordance with the Commission, quarantine will last for all educational institutions in the area until 20 November, a commission to monitor the distribution of medicines is also made, which come in the region as humanitarian aid.
The commission agreed that health workers will provide individual first aid kit. There will be extra transport allocated to visit patients by the district doctors.
According to the Ministry of Health, today in Ukraine there are 255 000 registered cases of influenza and SARS, of whom 15 000 were hospitalized.
Ministry of Transport and Communications of Ukraine introduced a permanent monitoring of the situation on a clear implementation of the planned anti-epidemic measures in public transport.
A special monitoring group studied the transport department on November 2, how the anti-epidemiological measures were applied at the Kiev railway station, central bus station of the capital and the International airport “Borispol”.
Polish epidemiologists November 3 arrive in Ukraine for obtaining specimens from patients with the Ukrainians. The experts will arrive in Lviv, where it is supposed to take 190 samples.
Polish epidemiologists are expected to arrive in Ukraine on November 3 to obtain samples from patients. The experts will arrive in Lviv, where 190 samples are to be taken.
Lithuanian Foreign Ministry on November 2 recommended to the residents of Lithuania to refrain from unnecessary trips to the Ukraine.
Department of Monitoring,
Kavkaz Center
