Swirling around the internet are news reports linking the swine flu, technically known as H1N1, to pig factory farms in the Mexican state of Veracruz. The American company, Smithfield Inc.'s Mexican subsidiary, Granjas Carroll, operates large pig factory farms near the Veracruz village of La Gloria. A broadcast by the U.S. ABC News on April 28 reported that the people in La Gloria consider their village to the "ground zero" of the swine flu outbreak.
The La Gloria villagers told ABC News that 450 people in March were diagnosed with "acute respiratory infections" and then sent home with surgical masks and antibiotics. A five year old boy, Edgar Hernandez tested positive for the swine flu, and according to Mexican health officials he is the only one in the village who did. However, his parents were not told he tested positive for it, and later learned about his test results after watching a news broadcast. Two infants died of pneumonia, according to the ABC News, and were buried without testing.
A Smithfield spokesperson said the company didn't find "signs or symptoms" of the swine flu in its pigs.
An article in the British newspaper, the Globe and Mail, quotes La Gloria resident Jose Luis Martinez who said, "It all came from here...the symptoms they are suffering are the same that we had here."
The article reports that the La Gloria residents' theory the swine flu outbreak originated in their village "appears to fall in line with the observations of a U.S. company Veratect" which tracks disease outbreaks globally. The company's chronology "suggests a connection" between the pig farm and the illness that afflicted the La Gloria residents.
The Environmental news website, Grist translated a quote in the Veracruz based newspaper, La Marcha from a La Gloria resident about the "organic and fecal waste" Granjas Carroll produces. According to the resident, the waste is not "adequately treated, creating water and air pollution in the region."
The La Marcha article reported that La Gloria residents complained for a long time about the odors in the air and water, and swarms of flies around waste lagoons. The residents claim state and federal authorities have not inspected hog operations in the area.
La Jornada, a Mexico City newspaper reported that the Mexican health agency IMSS admitted the swarms of flies could be the original carrier for the swine flu.
Factory animal farms
The U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC) defines central animal farm operations (CAFOs) as "agricultural facilities that house and feed a large number of animals in a confined area for 45 days or more during any 12-month period." The CDC cited health concerns for people who work in CAFOs as "including chronic and acute respiratory illnesses and musculoskeletal injuries, and may be exposed to infections that travel from animals to humans." According to the CDC, people who live in areas surrounding CAFOs "report nuisances, such as odor and flies."
A recent Global Research article describes CAFOs as places where "pigs are jammed together so tightly that they can barely turn around. There are so many of them that they produce many tons of manure, which is just dumped into giant open ponds."
The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) expresses concerns about CAFOs. Doug Gurian-Sherman, a senior scientist in UCS's Food and Environmental program, said, "CAFOs aren't the natural result of agricultural progress, nor are they the result of rational planning or market forces."
A Pew study cites the potential public health effects of CAFOs as including "disease and the transmission of disease, the potential for the spread of pathogens from animals to humans."
The study points out that CASOs are often located in areas where they can affect communities. Housing a large number of animals in one building, according to the study, increases the chances for diseases to affect people, which are "carried either by the animals or the large quantities of animal waste." Infection can spread to a community before being discovered in animal populations.
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California, America's "Leader of the Pack" to Address Factory Farming
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Yes, factory farming is inhumane.
Yes, factory farming can cause health issues for people and animals.
No, factory farming is unlikely to have caused the current "swine flu" outbreak.
There are many strains of swine flue and are quite common in intensive pig farming operations. However most of these strains are not transmitted to humans.
The A-H1N1 virus nvolved in the current outbreak seems to be a mutation involving a human flu strain, an avian flu strain and two swine flu strains. Factory piggeries will host swine flus but are unlikely to host avian (bird) flus or human flus.
This makes it far more likely that the origin is instead a "backyard' operation where pigs, chickens and people cohabit.
Sure, the commercial piggeries could have brought the swine flu strains into the area (though less controlled private pigs are more likely to be the vectors), but the commercial piggeries do not provide the other components.
I fully support the idea of drawing attention to the plight of factory farmed animals, but it is likely inaccurate to try to link this to the current "swine flu" outbreak.
Written in May 2009