H1N1 Swine Flu Update - Yes, It's In The Meat

First, contrary to initial pronouncements by Smithfield and government authorities, you can get swine flu from the meat of sick animals, and the claims that the US herd is free of the flu is based on an abscence of evidence.

No one is independently checking the US hog herd for H1N1. If you think these meat packers would self-report to the public any swine flu they did find, you weren't paying attention to the peanut contamination scandal.

Really doing something about the disease factories known as industrial farms would involve going up against an incredibly powerful lobby, one that's pushing a National Animal ID System that will make small scale animal production methods too expensive to compete.

It's actually an insult to chicken sh*t to properly describe the cowardice of most of Congress when it comes to standing up to people who throw a lot of money around.

So nothing is likely to be done to prevent future outbreaks, though if we are unlucky, this one could still turn into a pandemic:

... What should we be watching for this summer? Influenza is a seasonal disease. Summer in the Earth's northern Hemisphere is winter in its southern hemisphere and vice versa. In the United States, we are moving into summer. But below the equator, they are moving into winter. I would keep a very careful watch on the southern hemisphere. Its the making of the perfect storm: new Swine flu in circulation and winter conditions promoting its circulation. ...

Health experts worry that this flu could hit a third of the population as we move into the southern hemisphere flu season, with its full effects not likely to be apparent until it's flu season in the northern hemisphere this fall and winter. Quarantine at this point is a pipe dream, just as it always was, especially as the first case has been confirmed in China. Sealing our southern border or avoiding travel to Mexico is of no practical use, as I've written before, unless satisfying xenophobia appeals to you.

So there's nothing for this but trying to take care of your personal health, avoiding contact with sick people, and encouraging sick people to stay home from work or school.

At present, the best means of avoiding a number of diseases, including the flu, remains scrubbing your hands with soap in warm water for at least 15 seconds after touching public surfaces, shaking hands, handling waste, using the restroom, and always before eating - so say the health experts quoted in the Wall Street Journal. Which, as I just told Chris, totally vindicates my OCD tendencies.

If that's an alien mindset to you, maybe try watching a few episodes of Monk ;) You don't have to develop a fear of elevators or anything, but a little extra germophobia will go a long way towards protecting everyone's health from industrial agriculture's little Frankenstein flu.