Interesting article on swine flu

[maeread]

Found an interesting article on the swine flu outbreak

http://www.southernstudies.org/2009/...-hog-farm.html

One particular passage caught my attention...

The 1998 North Carolina outbreak began with pregnant sows developing high fevers. A state microbiologist who tested nasal samples taken from the animals was surprised to encounter a virus he didn't recognize -- and his alarm grew when he found that some of the sick animals had been immunized for ordinary swine flu...

Wonder what your thoughts are.

[newmum35]

I enjoyed the article, this passage in particular was especially enlightening:

Crowding thousands of pigs into cramped, filthy quarters creates ideal conditions for the fast spread of potentially dangerous viruses. The Humane Society of the United States points out that the unnatural density of such operations enables the large viral loads considered necessary for the emergence of rare flu mutations that can then spread rapidly among animals. The crowded conditions also stress the animals' immune systems, while the enormous quantities of decaying fecal waste predisposes them to respiratory infections and the lack of sunlight allows viruses to thrive. In addition, the industry's heavy reliance on pharmaceutical drugs and vaccines immunologically

[yarngoddess]

The whole thing just makes me angry and sad at the same time (the swine flu that is) and this quote
"Crowding thousands of pigs into cramped, filthy quarters" makes my stomach turn. I've had pigs and I cannot imagine treating them like that- they are messy and dirty and gross (even though I love them) enough as it is!!! How could people stand by and watch them being treated like that? And then wonder why they keep getting sick?????

[amnesiac]

Please remember to remain focused on the vaccine issue since this is in the vax forum. Thanks!