Swine Flu in Mexico Linked to Poorly Managed Factory Farms

Investigations now reveal that the swine flu epidemic that began in Mexico and spread worldwide is probably connected to pollution caused by unsanitary pig breeding farms in the region.

Various news outlets are covering the story, and here are some excerpts from articles where you can find more information about this breaking news:

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• Tom Phillpot at Grist asks: “Is Smithfield Foods, the world’s largest pork packer and hog producer, linked to the outbreak? Smithfield operates massive hog-raising operations Perote, Mexico, in the state of Vera Cruz, where the outbreak originated. The operations, grouped under a Smithfield subsidiary called Granjas Carrol, raise 950,000 hogs per year, according to the company Web site.”

• The Mexican and U.S. hog industries have denied that they are responsible, and David Kirby at The Huffington Post summarizes their claims, but ends his column with this intriguing premise: “There is no proof that this illness emerged on a Mexican hog factory farm, or in Mexico, or even in hogs. But we do know that Mexican pigs with swine flu are being destroyed. And we know that Mexican lawmakers think that CAFOs are making people sick. And now we know that a five-year-old girl in La Gloria has swine flu. I wonder if the CDC is going to go check on her, and see how she contracted that virus.”

• At The Daily Green, Dan Shapley has put the outbreak into the larger context of how large-scale outbreaks are generally linked to animals: “Organizations like Wildlife Trust have for years been warning about this type of outbreak — an estimated 75% of human illness originates with wildlife (think Lyme disease, West Nile virus and every other strain of flu). The term used to describe that study is conservation medicine, since preventing and treating outbreaks typically means tackling environmental problems as well. For instance, in 1999, the deadly Nipah virus spread from bats to humans to pigs because of deforestation of jungles of Borneo and Malaysia.”

• Karl Burkart at the Mother Nature Network makes the now requisite climate change connection: “Though the mismanagement of the hog operation seems primarily to blame for the outbreak, it is also important to note that last year the Wildlife Conservation Society issued a statement that linked climate change to the development of new and potentially lethal influenza strains, particularly new strains of the avian flu. Changing weather patterns are resulting in overpopulation of insects which then carry the disease from bird to bird.”

If you are aware of additional articles that provide insight into the environmental aspects of this story, please add them with links to the comment section below.

Photo Credit: David Light Orchard on Flickr under a Creative Commons license

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