New developments in the ongoing swine flu epidemic appears to connect this “cocktail” of swine, avian and human influenza viruses to large “factory farms” operated by the giant Smithville Foods swine farms in Mexico. The flu outbreak, now listed officially by the World Health Organization at Level 5 (regional epidemic proportions) is on the verge of being a global pandemic with new cases being noted in a number of countries, and Mexico’s largest cities literally shut down as a result.
Smithfield, considered to be America’s largest commercial pork products company, raises nearly 1 million porkers annually in massive “factory farms” outside of the city of Perote in Veracruz. For years, residents of Perote have complained of the stench emulating from the farms which is a result of thousands of animals living in overcrowded conditions, with pig feces, urine, and food wastes polluting the air and water supplies of a wide geographical area. The picture above is of the “Lagoon” – the pink color a result of several millions of litres of pig faeces, blood and pig corpses. Such conditions are a natural breeding ground of a number of diseases, and the virus may now believed to have been spread by certain types of flies that reproduce in the pig waste and eventually find their way to hombres humanos (human beings) in the capital, Mexico City, about 100 miles away.
The Smithfield farm, run by a Mexican subsidiary called Granjas Carroll, raises around 950,000 swine per year. The human side of the disease is now believed to have originated in a small village named La Gloria, located in the same vicinity.
The link between the hog farms near Perote and the disease itself appears to be receiving more than casual attention in a number of Mexican media sources, including Vera Cruz’s largest newspaper La Marcha. Smithfield company executives, afraid of this connection becoming a “pig in a poke”, are trying to play the entire matter down, and their concern has even filtered up to the White House itself; with President Obama trying to assure Americans that commercial pork products are safe to eat, despite the ongoing epidemic. The President has more than enough matters to deal with in his 100th day in office, and being in the midst of a world-wide flu pandemic isn’t helping, with new cases being diagnosed in American daily.
Smithfield Foods in its May 1st press release said:
We are pleased that the continuing coverage has included the affirmation by public health officials, government officials, including President Obama and others, that the A(H1N1) influenza virus is not transmitted by food and can only pass from human to human. I am also pleased to reconfirm that there is no evidence at this time that the hogs at Veracruz, or anywhere else, have been infected with A(H1N1) influenza.
This notwithstanding and so the public can have full confidence in the health of our Mexican pig herd, yesterday we submitted samples from our farm in Veracruz for further testing under the direction of Mexican governmental authorities, including genetic sequence analysis that will determine what, if any, strains of flu are present. The results will enable us to conclude with certainty that the A(H1N1) strain is not present in our hogs. These tests will take approximately twelve days.
Mexican health authorities are keeping a close watch on the condition of the swine in these mega farms, but so far, no orders have been issued to slaughter pigs as a preventive measure.
As a side note, Egyptian authorities have authorized the slaughter of the country’s entire hog population of around 300,000. Being a predominantly Muslim country; with only around 10% of the population being non-Muslims and therefore religiously able to eat pork, the Egyptian authorities may see this as a “window of opportunity” to rid their country of an animal that is religiously taboo in most households.
In Mexico, however, it’s the other way around; with pork considered an important food source, as well as an export commodity. It might now be a good idea for Granjas Carroll to clean up their act to make their pig farms a bit more hygienic. Perhaps this might be also an opportunity for private pig farms, especially organic ones, to offer a cleaner and safer product than that produced in these mega swine facilities.
Hat Tip: Grist
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