Having watched the drop in trade in pork (a perfectly reasonable meat when prepared properly) and the slaughter of many innocent pigs, the WHO has changed the name of this version of influenza to the slightly less inflammatory Influenza A (H1N1). Probably a case of closing the barn door after inviting the butcher in, however. My condolences to the pigs who really have nothing at all to do with anything. No pigs have been ill from the erstwhile "swine flu" and forcing the slaughter of them is a serious hardship for the zebaleen of Mokattam who are one of the best recycling services in the world.
copyright 2009 Maryanne Stroud Gabbani
3 comments:
A bit of overkill from the government. Do they have any other plans? It might not be too long before we find out - according to Egyptian Chronicles blog, one case has already possibly been found in Egypt. This person had recently returned from Mexico.
One of the people on a veterinary medicine list that I belong to posted that geneticists have traced the current H1N1 back to factory farms in the US where it first appeared in the late 90's. These viruses are cooked in the cramped industrial farms where the animals are pushed into areas too small for them and stressed beyond belief and pumped with drugs to try to keep them healthy in spite of the conditions. The local pigs are probably infinitely healthier. But the level of understanding of these things among the decision makers is so dismal that there is little hope.
Yeah - there's an article on Wired.com about that. But, that is a result of the factory farms that raise our (American) food. It is ironic that the USA actually started this whole thing.
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