- New flu strain in China found in pigs
but that has pandemic potential.
- It has the potential to cross over to humans
and become yet another devastating pandemic.
- With this kind of environment and condition,
we fear the worst.
- A strain of swine flu from pig farms in China
has been noted as significant due to its pandemic potential.
The virus called G4 EA H1N1 is genetically descended
from the H1N1 strain that caused the pandemic in 2009.
In fact, there's a unique blend of free lineages,
ones similar to strains found in European and Asian birds,
the H1N1 strain that caused the 2009 pandemic
and the North American H1N1 that has genes
from Avian, Human and pig influenza viruses.
What's important to note is that the G4 strain
is a blend of lineages from all over the world,
meaning it is not a uniquely Chinese issue,
it is an amalgamation of strains from animal farming
in places including Europe and North America.
Another important point to recognize
is that the G4 strain isn't the only strain
that is being currently monitored,
in fact, in China alone between 2011 and 2018,
179 swine influenza viruses
were discovered through swab tests on pigs in pig farms.
But this isn't just a problem in China,
as a 2015 study carried out
by the U.S. National Institutes of Health,
mapped the genetic sequences of swine flue viruses
and found that Europe and the U.S.,
the largest global exporters of pigs
are also the largest exporters of swine flu.
The G4 strain is gaining notoriety now
because since its discovery in 2018,
its ability to spread between pigs
and from pigs to humans
is becoming increasingly more alarming.
Fortunately, for now it appears that the new strain
has not developed human to human transmission.
However, at any point it could
and then it would pose a significant
and serious threat to human health.
The problem is when multiple strains of influenza viruses
infect the same pig,
they can easily swap genes,
a process known as re-assortment.
And within animal agriculture,
killing an estimated 1.5 billion pigs each year globally,
that's a huge number of pigs
where the possibility of reassortment can take place.
Pigs are also susceptible
to both human and bird influenza viruses
and they can therefore act as intermediary hosts
or mixing vessels in which new influenza viruses can arise.
Couple that with the fact that these pigs
are raised in universally horrid conditions,
whether it be in China, the U.S. the U.K.,
Germany, it just doesn't matter,
as pigs are raised consistently the same,
living in concrete pens, mutilated,
piled on top of one another or immobilized in crates
so small they can't even turn around.
The way that we force these animals to live
and because they are selectively bred,
the population gene pool is narrowed
has created the perfect environment
for infectious zoonotic disease to mutate and spread.
And although intensive factory farming
significantly increases this risk,
it can't be ignored that all systems of animal farming
create a risk that wouldn't exist
if the farming wasn't taking place.
To make matters even worse,
when asked about the G4's strain's ability to mutate,
Robert Webster, a world renowned influenza investigator
and expert stated, it's a guessing game,
we just do not know when a pandemic is going to occur
until the damn thing occurs.
What we do know, however, is that pig farming
creates deadly strains of swine flu
that can go on to cause pandemics
and kill hundreds of thousands of people.
We do know that isn't a geographically specific problem
as strains of swine flue are detected all over the world.
For example, the 2009 swine flu pandemic
started in Mexico but the virus' genetic lineage
was traced back to a pig farm in North Carolina.
The fact of the matter is we know exactly
what causes swine flu
and we know that pig farming is the number one risk factor
in the creation and spread of swine flu.
In fact, the risks to human health posed by animal farming
have been highlighted for years.
And led the American Public Health Association,
one of the largest and oldest associations
of public health professionals in the world
to call for moratorium on factory farming in 2003.
And even though we know
the risk of influenza viruses is high,
we have no idea when an influenza virus could mutate
to become effective at human to human transmission
or how deadly it will be,
simply put, our current strategy
is to cross our fingers and leave it up to fate.
Because, seriously, what is the point in monitoring disease
if preventative measures are not put in place.
All we are doing is watching as these viruses
become more virilant and more concerning,
until eventually one becomes effective
at human to human transmission
and then we just hold our breath
and hope that the death rate isn't high enough
to kill millions of people.
It's like watching your house burn down,
but instead of putting out,
you're spraying more fuel onto the fire
then standing monitoring and taking notes,
rather than dealing with the actual problem.
We've been monitoring viruses for decades,
watching them mutate and spread around the world.
And yet, in that time, instead of dealing with the problem,
we've done the opposite.
Globally, we farm more pigs than ever.
And our governments every single year
give pig farmers tens of billions globally in subsidies
to make what they do more financially cost effective.
There is something clearly wrong
when a system that is known for causing serious diseases
is not only allowed to continue,
but is supported with our taxpayer's money.
Our governments are using our tax money
to perpetuate industries
that cause global pandemics and disease.
Our governments are effectively
funding public health emergencies
that lead to death with our money.
The 2009 swine flu pandemic
was paid for by the American taxpayer.
But there is hope, because it's empowering to realize
that we're not powerless in the face of future pandemics.
As consumers we have a massive amount of power
when it comes to protecting our species
from infectious diseases as well as the lives
of non-human animals.
One thing we can all do to help, simply,
is look in our shopping baskets and see
if the items that we're buying perpetuate the problem.
But we must also recognize that by eating animal products
and allowing these systems to continue,
we are playing Russian roulette with our lives.
And as the recent swine flu has illustrated,
the next outbreak could happen anytime, anywhere.
We can't afford to be complacent
because as long as animal farming is allowed to continue,
the issue of pandemics will always be a when and not an if.