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- Teens take home science gold: A low-cost, self-driving vehicle; battery alternatives and analyses of galaxy clusters claim top prizes at a global high school science competition
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Web edition: October 17, 2009
To date, federal monitoring has yet to turn up any U.S. pigs infected with the killer swine flu strain known as H1N1. But Agriculture Department Secretary Tom Vilsack announced yesterday that his agency’s veterinary labs would be reexamining whether any of the apparently healthy pigs exhibited in late August through early September at the Minnesota state fair might have been infected with the virus. Why? “An outbreak of 2009 pandemic H1N1 influenza occurred in a group of children housed in a dormitory at the fair at the same time samples were collected from the pigs,” USDA notes.
Currently, the agency has turned up “no direct link” between the fair’s pigs and the sick kids. Just to be sure, however, USDA will be rechecking tests on the pigs that were conducted during the fair as part of a University of Iowa and University of Minnesota cooperative agreement research project. It was funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which probes for flu viruses at public venues where people and pigs may come into contact with each other.
"I want to remind people that they cannot get this [H1N1] flu from eating pork or pork products," said Vilsack. But the virus can be spread through feces. So if people cleaning up after infected pigs don’t adequately wash their hands, or if people pet infected animals, there’s a chance for the spread of infection.
USDA hopes to confirm the health of the exhibited Minnesota pigs within a few days.
UPDATE: U.S. swine infected with swine flu
Suggested Reading
Swine flu vaccination should target children first
Origins of the swine flu virus
Genetic analysis of swine flu virus reveals diverse parts
World Health Organization raises swine flu alert level
Science & the Public : Update: U.S. swine infected with swine flu
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I think the most dangerous food is meat as it destroys humanity and leads to wars and destroys all ultimately.
Obesity & Magic Pill :
I personally recognize that wheat is a far better diet than meat on the ground it normally exits body with ease and rapidity, and we are well aware that our heath depends upon smooth metabolism and blood stream associated with the immune system and how important our daily workout is, as well.
I still think the critical conditions mostly come from breach of our immune system, and the food that stays long in the body is more likely to become a source where germs, bacterias, viruses and the like multiply.
Sounds outlandish, but wheat might be a principal "clean and healthy" food that has led western society to the most decent culture of all.
Disadvantages of meat consumption :
1. The food that stays long in the body looks more likely to become a source where germs, bacterias and the like multiply, which even gives birth to critical conditions involving prostate cancer.
2. The consumption of meat proved lethal as earlier this year, the expansive, long-term release concluded about a third of more than 500,000 Americans aged 50-70 with this behavior tends to wind up with premature fatality caused by cancer, hypertension and more.
3. The in-take of pork raises risks of catching swine flue and its mutation, costing around the initially estimated $2trillion dollars word-wide and endangering recovery,
(( Genes included in the new swine flu have been circulating undetected in pigs for at least a decade, according to researchers who have sequenced the genomes of more than 50 samples of the virus. The findings suggest that in the future, pig populations will need to be monitored more closely for emerging influenza viruses, reported a team led by Rebecca Garten of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in a report released by the journal Science.))
Still, media downplay this fact out of small thinking to protect meat industry.
4. All but media influenced by meat industry blame calorie for overweight or obesity rather than fat, I still think Fat equals Fat by definition and common sense.
5. Hot dogs are often associated with food-borne illness. Though other food items carry listeria , FDA (Food and Drug Administration) studies have shown a high level of the harmful bacteria on hot dogs, processed meat and ready-to-eat meat products. And consuming hot dogs and other processed meats increases the risk of cancer
The class-action consumer fraud lawsuit underway in New Jersey is based on a report from the American Institute for Cancer Research.
Its findings included this fact: Consuming one 50-gram serving of processed meat (about the amount in one hot dog) every day increases the risk of colorectal cancer, on average, by 21 percent.
Nitrites, used to keep hot dogs fresh, are the main culprit, according to the suit.
While nitrites are commonly found in many green vegetables, especially spinach, celery and green lettuce, the consumption of vegetables appears to be effective in reducing the risk of cancer. Because these vegetables also contain Vitamin C and D, which serve to inhibit the formation of carcinogenic compounds, they actually reduce your cancer risk.
6. Two thirds of Americans are overweight or obese, which branch into so many different kinds of diseases, excess body fat increases risk for numerous cancers, costing up to $147 billion a year.
7. America needs to put focus on a sustainable energy industry to become a lead exporter, in place of a fast food business where the overall loss outstrips gain more than known, from my stance.
Provided the average temperature is getting higher, accordingly all forms of germs, bacterias, viruses, and influenza etc are more likely to multiply.
Some skeptics say the warning against hazards of climate change is overstated, but judging from more frequent and widespread outbreaks of e. coli, salmonella, and bird, swine flu cases endangering human lives and economic recovery seriously, some prompt measures need to be taken, I guess.
Also, Breathing toxic chemicals in the outdoor air exposes all Americans to a lifetime cancer risk at least 10 times greater than the level considered acceptable under federal law, shows new data released by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Thank You !
1. It's DELICIOUS!
Thank You!
Also, you mention listeria, doesn't that cause most infections through salads and other uncooked vegetables?
With all due respect, I believe it's important to recognize that the USDA exists to serve industry and not public health, and so it's important for journalists to understand that quoting them on health issues as if that is their province does the public a disservice. In fact, commercial meat interests have NO testing or reporting requirements in the US, and so "federal monitoring" means very little because it is limited to specific cases where the CDC is able to focus its limited resources. In addition, the WHO has clearly warned that people can be infected by handling contaminated pork or eating undercooked pork. If the media reported the simple truth, rather than industry propaganda, then sales of pork would plummet, as they should, and then the market and public pressure would work together to accomplish vital industry reform.
INFLUENZA PANDEMIC (H1N1) 2009, ANIMAL HEALTH (12): USA (MINNESOTA)
SWINE, SUSPECTED
***************************************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
Date: Sun 18 Oct 2009
Source: Twin Cities.com, Pioneer Press [edited]
H1N1 detected in 3 pigs at Minnesota State Fair
- -----------------------------------------------
Infection could be first among US animals; experts cite a new concern
but say food safe.
Three pigs exhibited at the Minnesota State Fair this summer [2009]
tested positive for the H1N1 virus, a preliminary result Friday [16
Oct 2009] that if confirmed would mark the 1st time the worrisome
virus has been found in US animals.
State officials tried to allay concern, saying the spread was
expected, given the deep inroads the H1N1 virus has made into the
human population. Health officials stressed that human-to-human
transmission is the real battleground in the pandemic.
Still, the results spark a new worry -- that the virus could mutate
into a more deadly form as it moves between species. "There's no
evidence there's a change in the virus, but that is a concern," said
Dr Joni Scheftel, public health veterinarian with the Minnesota
Department of Health.
The H1N1 virus already had been found in swine in Canada, Argentina,
Ireland, and elsewhere, but not in the United States. [Until now, if
this is confirmed, which seems likely. - Mod.TG]
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