It has been said many times, perhaps most recently by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, that you should “never waste a good crisis.” The H1N1 (swine) flu outbreak is certainly a crisis and a tragedy, but I hope the public health community does not waste the opportunity to capitalize on questions and concerns being raised around the globe about the methods we use to raise animals for food. In particular, the H1N1 (swine) flu outbreak highlights social justice issues related to where “factory farms” are located.
Negative effects associated with living near an Industrial Food Animal Production (IFAP) site have been documented time and time again, including decreased health status, property values, and quality of life. In addition, the increased likelihood of these sites being located in and around communities where traditionally disenfranchised populations reside (e.g. low income, minorities) has also been documented. The location of these facilities and the associated health effects has contributed to environmental injustices and health disparities in the U.S. and around the world. Read More >
The World Health Organization just raised the influenza pandemic alert to Phase 5 just after United States officials announced the first swine flu death in the country was a Mexican toddler who was visiting relatives in Texas. According to the WHO’s website out of the 6 Phase scale, “Phase 5 is a strong signal that a pandemic is imminent and that the time to finalize … planned mitigation measures is short.” In a news conference today, WHO Director-General, Dr. Margaret Chan, said past experiences show that the flu may cause only mild disease in affluent countries (like the U.S.) but is likely to cause severe disease and more deaths in developing countries. Dr. Chan warned, “No matter what the situation is, the international community should treat this as a window of opportunity to ramp up preparedness and response.”
The number of confirmed cases continues to steadily grow all over the globe. AP reports that swine flu has spread to at least 10 states in the U.S. and the number of cases has reached nearly 100. The AP says the number of people with confirmed and suspected cases in Mexico is up to 2,500. The WHO reports swine flu has reached out globally to Canada, Britain, Israel, New Zealand and Spain. AP says Germany and Austria have just added themselves to the list.
Interestingly, despite a concerted effort by the Administration to refer to the swine flu as the 2009 H1N1 flu virus, not every federal agency has made the change yet. In fact, the Washington Post quoted an unnamed CDC scientist as saying:
“the name “2009 H1N1″ will not stick in the scientific community because it will be confused with this year’s routine seasonal flu.”
You’ll recall pork producers believe using the term swine flu is giving customers the false idea that pork products could be carrying the virus. Remembering that bird flu, specifically H5N1, can be found in poultry meat, I have to admit I wasn’t 100% sold on the claim that there is no way swine flu could make it on to a piece of pork, but Hopkins scientists assure me that the claim if fairly accurate.
Infectious disease expert, Dr. Andrew Pekosz, who is an associate professor at the Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, told me “contaminated pork represents a very minor risk with respect to swine H1N1, primarily because swine influenza is a respiratory disease with very little if any any virus present in tissue outside the respiratory tract.”
So rest easy, you won’t catch swine flu from eating pork. But pork can contain other nasty pathogens, (more so industrially produced) so to be safe, make sure to practice proper handling and cooking procedures.
A good PR move by pork producers and Ag representatives for encouraging U.S. leaders to institute a quick name change for the recent swine flu outbreak. According to the Washington Post, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsak and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced today they’re just going to call it the “2009 H1N1 virus outbreak.” The Post goes on to say:
Vilsack said the change came after Obama officials heard protests from the meat and grain industries. “It is significant, because there are a lot of hardworking families whose livelihood depends on us conveying this message of safety,” said Vilsack, ” … and we want to reinforce the fact that we’re doing everything we possibly can to make sure that our hog industry is sound and safe and to make sure that consumers in this country and around the world know that American products are safe.”
If you go to the National Pork Board’s website you’ll see how its members are pushing to rename the swine flu to the “North American Flu.” It’s also interesting to note an MSNBC is reporting that Israel’s health minster wants the swine flu outbreak renamed to the “Mexican Flu,” in deference to the Jewish and Muslim sensitivities over pork.
According to the New York Times, health officials in Mexico have toured a million-pig hog farm in Perote, in Veracruz State searching for the original source of the swine flue outbreak . The plant is half-owned by Smithfield Foods, an American company and the world’s largest pork producer.
“Last year the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production warned that hog farms could become breeding grounds for new strains of the flu,” said a report on last night’s CBS Evening News. Bob Martin, former executive director of the Pew Commission, told CBS, “The warm conditions and the close proximity of animals being able to pass viruses back and forth and to the human workers is the situation ripe for the development of a novel virus.”
This morning, the death toll from the outbreak was raised to 152, and the World Health Organization voted to raise its global pandemic flu alert level. More information on the swine flu can be found on the Livable Future Blog.
The World Health Organization is poised to raise the pandemic threat level as a deadly strain of the swine virus shows no sign of slowing down, according to a latest Reuters report. The New York Times reports that the number of people killed by the virus has climbed to 149 in Mexico and 8 of the 20 confirmed cases in the U.S. were diagnosed in New York City.
Reuters says the change in threat levels would indicate that the virus has mutated to the point that it is being transmitted from person to person more easily. According to an earlier Reuters report the CDC’s early analysis determined the virus strain, which is designated H1N1 (similar to the “Spanish Flu” which killed tens of millions of people in the early 20th Century) contains DNA from swine, human and avian viruses.
Read More >
It looks like Meatless Monday’s “Inspiring a Movement” video is doing just that, but the meat industry is already grumbling. In particular, industry leaders have a beef with the video’s claim that, “Meat mass production, as currently practiced, is extremely inefficient.” The claim makes sense to me, especially when you consider research that suggests the amount of energy needed to produce industrial raised beef is at least 10 times greater than growing vegetables. But, wait I’m getting ahead of myself. Read More >
While today reminds us of the environmental challenges we face nationally and globally, it isn’t the only day where we should be concerned about our impact on the Earth (and in turn, how our actions affect the environment and our health).
Earth Day should be about raising awareness of what we are doing every day and how to make meaningful changes, not about “greenwashing” or giving lip service to environmental issues.
Grist, the online environmental magazine, posted a series on whether Earth Day still matters-with several essays on both sides (and a tongue-in-cheek campaign called Screw Earth Day). The self-proclaimed cynical view calls the day “an empty gesture,” and says few people care enough to even make small changes in their daily lives. Then the author turns a bit less cynical and details how we can reclaim the day by doing something that actually matters. Read More >
