Update: Researchers are closing in on a universal influenza vacccine reports ENS. Dr. Robert Belshe, director of the St. Louis University Center for Vaccine Development presented his findings for developing such a vaccine in Baltimore last week. In his study 377 adults received three injections of Bivalent Influenza Peptide Conjugate vaccine over a six month period. The dosage invoked an immune response similar to that found in test animals infected with influenza virus. Dr. Belshe said more research was needed. A universal vaccine would reduce or eliminate the current necessity of manufacturing a new vaccine for each discovered flu strain. There is no existing vaccine for the AH1N1 virus. Mexican health authorities report twenty six confirmed dead and a decline in the number of new flu cases, but new cases are now reported in Europe and elsewhere. Vice President Joe Biden has received a deluge of criticism for his poorly considered statement about staying out of confined public spaces like aircraft and subways. His essential point is correct, however. The virus is transmitted human to human through the air and by contact with contaminated surfaces as this young animal lover is demonstrating.
{4/29/09}The first H1N1 flu virus was found in a North Carolina factory pig farm in 1998. These industrial operations are notorious for the fetid stench of waste lagoons and animals subjected to obscenely inhumane conditions. At times chickens and pigs are processed in close proximity by the same human workers. Birds often land in waste lagoons. Untreated waste water is used to clear pens. So it makes biological sense that the genetic chimera now killing people worldwide would contain genetic material from all three species[1]. Swine factories awash in excrement and other wastes make a verdant incubator for microbes of all kinds. The Pew Research Center issued a report last year that emphasized the continual cycling of viruses could increase the probability of mutations resulting in more efficient human to human transmission. The overuse of antibiotics (cheaper than establishing humane conditions) also contribute to the rise of resistant strains of bacteria and protozoans. There is currently rampant speculation surrounding a Smithfield Foods subsidiary operating a massive factory[photo] in Veracruz, Mexico (Granjas Carroll) alleging it is ground zero in the current pandemic. Smithfield has released a statement denying any link to the swine flu outbreak, and has submitted samples from its herds to the University of Mexico for testing. Local officials described a 'strange' outbreak of acute respiratory infection that lead to pneumonia in some pediatric cases causing to them to declare a health alert on April 6th. About 60% of the population of the town of La Gloria (1800 cases) has been affected[2].
Smithfield was fined by the EPA for polluting the Pagan River in Virginia. The Supreme Court upheld the $12.6M fine in October 2000, the largest ever under the CleanWater Act. The company was accused of dumping feces and other bodily wastes directly into the river since the 1970s[3]. Smithfield is headed by pork magnate Joseph W. Luter III.
[1] "The continual cycling of swine influenza viruses and other animal pathogens in large herds or flocks provides increased opportunity for the generation of novel viruses through mutation or recombinant events that could result in more efficient human-to-human transmission of these viruses. In addition, agricultural workers serve as a bridging population between their communities and the animals in large confinement facilities. This bridging increases the risk of novel virus generation in that human viruses may enter the herds or flocks and adapt to the animals."Pew Commission on Farm Animal Production.
[2]the Mexican news service Marcharan a headline on April 15: "Granjas Carroll, causa de epidemia en La Gloria" www.marcha.com.mx/resument.php?id=2128 Residents of La Gloria complain of odor and flies coming from the waste lagoons as well as respiratory problems.
[3] yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/135261f4d1edd40885257359003d4807/c7a68726816ff7b3852567ef0053e790!OpenDocument
[r photo: Jo Tuckman/guardian.co.uk]
[l photo: marketoracle.co.uk/Article10352.html,