Are Meat-Eaters to Blame for Swine Flu?
posted by: Heather Moore 224 days ago
Swine flu by any other name is still swine flu. But because pork producers are worried that swine flu will hurt U.S. pork sales, authorities are now referring to it as the "H1N1 virus." By removing the word "swine" from "swine flu” to help pork producers sell more sausage and bacon, officials are essentially letting the meat industry off the hook for fostering life-threatening diseases.
Swine flu is called "swine flu" for a reason—because it afflicts pigs. (It's a combination of pig, bird, and human influenzas.) Health experts have been quick to point out that people can't catch swine flu from eating "properly-prepared" pork, but raising pigs for pork is what puts people at risk for swine flu in the first place. People's desire to eat meat means that pigs, chickens, cows, and other animals must be mass-produced in crowded, waste-filled factory farms.
Swine flu flourishes on pig farms, where tens of thousands of pigs are packed in filthy, damp sheds that stink of urine and feces. Lawmakers in Veracruz, Mexico, where the swine flu outbreak is believed to have originated, have acknowledged that pig and chicken farms are breeding grounds for disease. Because animals are kept in such close proximity, and in such putrid conditions, the viruses that cause swine flu, bird flu and other illnesses often mutate into a pathogenic form and sicken humans.
The prevalence of animal-borne illnesses like swine flu and bird flu indicates that we must change our intensive farming practices—not just in Mexico or Asia, but in the U.S. as well. Between 30 and 50 percent of pigs in the U.S. have been infected with some strain of swine flu, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
According to Dr. Michael Greger, the Humane Society of the United States' director of public health and animal agriculture, an H1N1 avian flu virus jumped from birds to humans in 1918, and killed around 50 million people. Humans passed the virus to pigs and it's become one of the most common causes of respiratory disease on North American pig farms. In 1998, a new pig/human virus was identified on a hog farm in North Carolina. Within a year, a hybrid of a human virus, a pig virus, and a bird virus had spread throughout the U.S. Some experts believe that the new swine flu viruses are on an evolutionary fast track, jumping between species at an unprecedented rate. (See http://www.hsus.org/farm/news/ournews/swine_flu_virus_origin_1998_042909.html for more details.)
Another infection, MRSA, an antibiotic-resistant staphylococcus bacterium that kills more Americans than AIDS, is also linked to pig farms. A study by a University of Iowa epidemiologist found that 45 percent of the pig farmers and 49 percent of the hogs sampled carried MRSA. Researchers in the Netherlands determined that pig farmers there were 760 times more likely than the general population to carry MRSA. Scientists have also found MRSA in at least 68 percent of the pig farms in Belgian. In 37 percent of the cases, the farmer and the farmer's family carried pig MRSA—a variant of human MRSA.
If we don't want pigs, chickens, and cows to be our downfall—either through animal-borne diseases or through heart disease, diabetes, or cancer—it's time we revaluate the way we treat them--and the way we eat. The fewer animals we raise, the fewer animal-borne diseases there will be. And since meat is high in saturated fat and cholesterol, everyone would be better off if they traded in their pork sausage, hamburgers, and chicken's legs for soy sausage, veggie burgers, and faux chicken.
Swine flu is called "swine flu" for a reason—because it afflicts pigs. (It's a combination of pig, bird, and human influenzas.) Health experts have been quick to point out that people can't catch swine flu from eating "properly-prepared" pork, but raising pigs for pork is what puts people at risk for swine flu in the first place. People's desire to eat meat means that pigs, chickens, cows, and other animals must be mass-produced in crowded, waste-filled factory farms.
Swine flu flourishes on pig farms, where tens of thousands of pigs are packed in filthy, damp sheds that stink of urine and feces. Lawmakers in Veracruz, Mexico, where the swine flu outbreak is believed to have originated, have acknowledged that pig and chicken farms are breeding grounds for disease. Because animals are kept in such close proximity, and in such putrid conditions, the viruses that cause swine flu, bird flu and other illnesses often mutate into a pathogenic form and sicken humans.
The prevalence of animal-borne illnesses like swine flu and bird flu indicates that we must change our intensive farming practices—not just in Mexico or Asia, but in the U.S. as well. Between 30 and 50 percent of pigs in the U.S. have been infected with some strain of swine flu, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
According to Dr. Michael Greger, the Humane Society of the United States' director of public health and animal agriculture, an H1N1 avian flu virus jumped from birds to humans in 1918, and killed around 50 million people. Humans passed the virus to pigs and it's become one of the most common causes of respiratory disease on North American pig farms. In 1998, a new pig/human virus was identified on a hog farm in North Carolina. Within a year, a hybrid of a human virus, a pig virus, and a bird virus had spread throughout the U.S. Some experts believe that the new swine flu viruses are on an evolutionary fast track, jumping between species at an unprecedented rate. (See http://www.hsus.org/farm/news/ournews/swine_flu_virus_origin_1998_042909.html for more details.)
Another infection, MRSA, an antibiotic-resistant staphylococcus bacterium that kills more Americans than AIDS, is also linked to pig farms. A study by a University of Iowa epidemiologist found that 45 percent of the pig farmers and 49 percent of the hogs sampled carried MRSA. Researchers in the Netherlands determined that pig farmers there were 760 times more likely than the general population to carry MRSA. Scientists have also found MRSA in at least 68 percent of the pig farms in Belgian. In 37 percent of the cases, the farmer and the farmer's family carried pig MRSA—a variant of human MRSA.
If we don't want pigs, chickens, and cows to be our downfall—either through animal-borne diseases or through heart disease, diabetes, or cancer—it's time we revaluate the way we treat them--and the way we eat. The fewer animals we raise, the fewer animal-borne diseases there will be. And since meat is high in saturated fat and cholesterol, everyone would be better off if they traded in their pork sausage, hamburgers, and chicken's legs for soy sausage, veggie burgers, and faux chicken.
Read more: animal welfare
comments
Meat is like heroin...
Those that choose the fix are weak and selfish. Those strong enough to quit will be healthy and pure.
Meat is not food. It's WAS a beautiful and intelligent animal that lived a horrible and painful life, later skinned and cut up into little pieces to mask it as your dinner... Propaganda from church and state to take your money! You fell for it!
I went cold turkey off the meat about a year ago when I learned the truth. I loved the taste and smell and ate it often just as you. I am not angry with those who do not know but for those of you that do and still choose to let our precious animals suffer I give you this...
You have the power to make an unselfish decision that will save nearly a hundred animals a year and help create peace on earth.
http://www.earthlings.com/
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why is this inappropriate?
IF YOU EAT MEAT YOU CANNOT CARE ABOUT THE LIVES OF ANIMALS!!!
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....Mother nature may take her time but will always prevail
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I would like to point out that it's not necessary to keep these animals in these conditions---it's all about profits! The owners grow them in the most 'efficient' (cheapest) way possible, in order to get the most PROFITS. That is their cruelty, while they live 'high on the hog' from it.
While some blame goes to meat-eaters, it is the people who profit from selling the meat who are at the root of the problem. How it has become acceptable and common practice to treat these 'food' animals as if they were plants, says a lot about where the world has descended to in what is acceptable, what is right or wrong, in pursuit of more and more profit.
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We shouldn't let this opportunity go by without raising our voices in protest against the poor sanitary conditions in which most "industrialized" animals are reared.
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Julia Boles, I have to say that because you have made the statement that you 'cannot live without meat' you have completely contradicted the statement you make later that 'you care about animals'!! IF YOU EAT MEAT YOU CANNOT CARE ABOUT THE LIVES OF ANIMALS!!!! That is like a logger saying they care about the forests!!! if you are knowingly involved with the destruction of something, you cannot care that much about it!! To be honest you could maybe say 'I care about SOME animals, but not the one's I eat, because I need to taste their dead flesh.' that would be a truthful statement.
I am not sure where you got your information on the meat requirements of a breastfeeding mother, but I breastfed both my boys and I didn't need to eat meat - I was given a clean bill of health by my doctor, My kids grew at a normal rate, and they actually hit most developmental milestones early! At this time they are both teenagers,alive and kicking - my oldest is 15 and a quarter inch from being 6 foot 4, and my youngest son is 13 and has come in 2nd place in our county track competition for his school, and I am still alive and healthy (and everyone thinks I am their sister, NOT their mother!!). All without any animals being murdered!!! There are plenty of good fats in many vegetables, nuts, etc.
So please, be truthful to yourself - you cannot stop eating meat because you don't WANT to. And you may care about SOME animals, but NOT the ones you find tasty!!
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We avoid anything that may cause any disease or outbreak and certainly use common sense!!! People who exhibit symptoms of any flu, virus, etc., need to stay home. Employers need to calm down when employees are sick! This is partly how this stuff gets spread around. Coomon sense is the best policy and listen to what healthcare professionals say.
Jeanne devey
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MAYBE if they made the the meat substitutes AFFORDABLE, more meat eaters would give them a try. This poll is lame.
Everyone wants to blame someone else, and not take responsibility for their own actions! Are vegan HUMANS who drive cars contributing to global warming? You bet they are! gee wiz
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To avoid getting the swine flu, wash your hands alot, especially before you eat the bacon.
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I'm just glad that I don't eat meat. No chicken, pig, or cow could ever grace their presence in my home.
If only people would realise how many chemicals are used to preserve meat and to make it look appetising, they would think twice of eating it.
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