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H1N1 Appears To Be Transmittable From Human To Pig
mpetch writes "In an interesting twist, it appears that H1N1 influenza can be transmitted from humans to swine. Apparently a Canadian pig farmer vacationed in Mexico, returned to Canada and infected about 10% of the swine on an Alberta farm. The swine subsequently developed flu symptoms."
On top of everything else, now we have to worry about our police being knocked out by influenza!
Great.
9 out of 10 pigs suggest calling it "Human Flu."
This ain't rocket surgery.
If H1N1 is able to infect humans... and it's able to infect swine... and it's transferable from swine to humans... why wouldn't it be transferable from human to swine? How is this news?
OMG this will threaten stability and availability of teh bacons!
They whose government reduces their essential liberties for temporary security, receive neither liberty nor security.
Maybe that's why you don't see pigs on planes ...
And have him infect all the swine misleading our country. I'm tired of hearing about swine flu (the swine running this country are sick but not of the flu) or 11 Trillion dollars being given to other swine.
Must be cold and lonely in Alberta this time of year....
is there any chance that this is how it started, a sick mexican passed it on to his/her pigs, then we assumed it was some horrible new thing that had managed the pig-human jump? I am quite possibly talking out my arse since i am not a viroligist or whatever the appropriate field would be
They always said there was no way that this could happen. They said that pigs would fly before this happened.
Well... Swine Flew
Thanks...I'll be here all week
Karma: Excellent. 15 moderator points expire sometime.
take that you swines! its payback time >:)
Just when I thought the chart format was stabilizing we need 3 more columns!
I *still* think that Bacon Fever is a superior name. Just sayin'.
You oinky vermins! You oinky, wonderous animal, you, delicious... ZOMG, what have we done?!
Fuck systemd. Fuck Redhat. Fuck Soylent, too. Wait, scratch the last one.
Time for a sequel to Animal Farm. At some point in the story, the paranoid pigs will order a culling of all humans.
i hope they don't cull us to save the pig population.
liqbase
Who what where when why would someone mod the parent comment as flamebait? It's funny. It's a pun.
The best I've heard so far is Parmageddon. Aporkalypse isn't too bad either.
I don't know why anyone would find this at all surprising.
The pigs are in confinement. The farmer has daily contact. It's an airborne disease.
I'd be far more worried if the swine hadn't been infected.
That implies a mutation. That the disease has taken root in the human population.
our politicians were immune.
I wish it happend in russia, that would have matched :(
(11)Avoid touching your genitals in an improper way. Conduct regular self-tests for vision loss.
Just saying.
It appears to be different strains of flu virus crossing species and undergoing genetic reassortment. Where their is no direct infection route between species 'an intermediate host may be needed for genetic reassortment of human and avian viruses. Pigs are considered a logical candidate for this role because they can be infected by either avian or human viruses'.
As to how it jumps species in the first place, one way is to drink raw avian blood as in Tit Canh. Then infect some tourist who gets on a plane and who coughs infected droplets into air that is recycled for a number of hours.
why do i feel more sorry for the pigs who catch it than the people?
Thank god for meta-moderation.
(8)Enemas, enemas, enemas, enemas, enemas, enemas, enemas !!!!
(9)Use soap and hand cleaners containing natural, organic tea tree oil. A powerful antibacterial without the chemicals. Kills viruses including swine flu, HIV, Avian Flu, Bubonic plague and dummies.
(10)Feces. Urine is great (drink it!!) but feces are pure concentrated nutrition logs. Deep enema then pick out the pieces.
(12)Avoid anything thought to be dairy but eat ice cream. I don't think it's dairy.
(13)Eat lots of Pringles. I don't know if they're any good for you but they now come 100 to the can. It's just good fiscal sense.
(14)Never clean your home and throw old newspapers coated in cat pee everywhere. The natural growth will naturally sanitize everything in the home naturally. Breathe deep, the odor is thrice as good as VapoRub.
(15)Did I mention enemas? Give yourself enemas two at a time. Once to clean out the toxins from your body then another time to clean the toxins from the first enema. In fact, if you can, just shove a garden hose up your butt and turn on the water FULL BLAST! Don't take it out, ever, unless you want to die within 100 years or so.
Pigs are unusual as they can be infected with influenza strains that usually infect three different species: pigs, birds and humans. pigs are like influenza adapters.
You might give them the flu.
I bet he was careless enough not wear mask when visited his swines. Ignorant pig.
Sneeze on a pig
Smivs on the intertubes!
The H1N1 strain of type A influenza is the strain associated with the global influenza pandemic of 1918. In that year, not 190,000 but tens of millions of people died.
Normally, the people who die from influenza are the very young or the very old. The shocking characteristic of the 1918 variety was that a great many of the people who succumbed to the disease were young and fit. They went from being healthy and happy to being dead in an alarmingly short period. Immunology had not advanced far enough at that time to for doctors to understand why this was happening, but today it is believed to have been the result of a phenomenon known as cytokine storm, which is a severe autoimmune reaction. In other words, the patients died because they were so fit and had healthy -- their immune systems, reacting to the sudden threat, went nuts and attacked their own bodies.
Modern medicine could reduce the body count of such a flu dramatically, but if such a strain appeared again it would still be catastrophic. Treating viruses is still very difficult. There is still no cure for the common cold -- and, under normal circumstances, most people who get the flu just sit it out. Providing medicine for every patient in a true pandemic would be very costly and it's likely that there simply wouldn't be enough for everybody. It is also difficult to treat an autoimmune reaction in a patient that is already known to be suffering from a serious infection -- suppress the immune system and the virus wins. So don't assume that it would be easy to keep a new pandemic under control just because it's almost a century later.
So the reason for all the hubbub is clear. Scientists want to be the Paul Reveres of a future pandemic: The British are coming, they're not already here. So to arms now -- not when they're in our homes. Governments can be very slow-moving when confronted with unforeseen things and they often need this kind of uproar from the medical community before prevention protocols can kick in.
Breakfast served all day!
The pigs are fully covered under Canada's national health care, and are receiving medical attention at a Calgary hospital. Attorneys for the patients would not comment on their plans for a possible lawsuit against the farmer. Provincial authorities also remained tight-lipped over reports of bringing possible charges of bio-terrorism. "When you have an attack that leaves over 200 victims in it's wake, most of them unable to speak for themselves, then we've got a responsibility to act", said one official who wished to remain anonymous.
Stay tuned to CBC News for further updates on this developing situation.
The first thing that came to mind when reading this article was a resounding "No Shit."
"Most people, I think, don't even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?"
Absolute last time I bang a pig.
As a vocal minority, i'm offended by the name H1N1 because it looks like it's pronounced hynie (the word for a little girl's private parts).
Just thought i'd jump on the bandwagon :)
(16) Bite my shiny metal ass.
But, but... I hate both Western and Country!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0wIBkoBhO4
I still have to go with my theory that the increase of publicity that John Stewart gives Baconnaise has a direct correlation with the increase of the Swine Flu.
As to how it jumps species in the first place, one way is to drink raw avian blood as in Tit Canh [ehow.com]. Then infect some tourist who gets on a plane and who coughs infected droplets into air that is recycled for a number of hours.
Ok, we need to put a stop to this myth like thirty years ago.
THE AIR ON PLANES ISN'T RECYCLED.
Bottled oxygen and CO2 scrubbers are heavy and expensive, and completely unnecessary.* The plane is surrounded by a breathing medium that is perfectly adequate in every way except temperature and density. A problem which is solved by the same step: Compressed air is diverted from the engines before the fuel is mixed in. The compression is mostly adiabatic, so that raises the temperature, too.
*A small amount of bottled oxygen is carried. But nowhere near enough for a whole trip. Just enough to descend to a breathable altitude and maybe land.
The air cycles out pretty quickly, too. Since there are a lot of fat people on board, you need to handle more than one cubic foot per person per minute.
And it leaks out through all the seams, not just the control valves. There's a good chance most of the air you exhale exits the plane mere inches from your face.
And the air from the overhead blower is directly off the engine tap. It's 100% fresh outside air. If you're worried about mixing, just turn that sucker on and point it at your nose. (but wear a wet rag over your nose so you don't dry out.)
Can you be Even More Awesome?!
So if it mutates and crosses back to humans should we call it the Canadian Bacon Flu ?
Unix, an obscure operating system developed by bored researchers in an attempt to get a better game playing experience.
Homer: Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. Lisa honey, are you saying you're *never* going to eat any animal again? What about bacon?
Lisa: No.
Homer: Ham?
Lisa: No.
Homer: Pork chops?
Lisa: Dad! Those all come from the same animal!
Homer: Yeah, right Lisa. A wonderful, *magical* animal!
but the other 90% just weren't purty enough...
Complete and utter crap. The AC posted the same garbage in another thread. I'll repost my comments on the subject.
Most of what you are saying is flat out wrong.... In the same (very bizarre) order as the parent:
0. The presence of mercury in vaccines is a red herring. We're talking about 62.5 micrograms per dose. You get that much mercury from eating a typical portion of tuna. An average adult gets nearly that much every week from dental fillings alone. This theory for the cause of autism seems pretty implausible. Further, these days, vaccines intended for children are available in a thimerosal-free variant specifically for this purpose, making this argument against vaccines utterly moot.
7. This is a clear case of correlation being confused with causation.... A pH level of 7.4 is considered normal in humans. So basically you are saying that most humans cannot get viruses or cancer. This is clearly not correct.... The normal range is 7.35 to 7.45. If you are outside that range, it is likely indicative of illness. Bringing your pH into that range doesn't kill viruses. Killing viruses brings it into that range.
1. That is just freaking disgusting.
2. Avoiding dairy is unnecessary unless you are lactose intolerant. I can certainly understand trying to avoid BGH, but there are BGH-free dairies that you can get your milk from. And in the grand scheme of things, it's really not that big a risk.
3. No thoughts about the safety of drinking carbonated beverages (at least as far as the CO2 is concerned). I would note that fibromyalgia, as far as I can tell, is similar to dementia in that it is basically a catch-all diagnosis that means "We don't know what's wrong." Thus attributing it to any single cause seems dubious to me, but....
4. Bleaching flour does reduce the health benefits, but not all white flour is bleached. Ultragrain(R), for example, is a white flour that is not bleached.
Salt (at least salt that is safe for human consumption) is naturally clearish-white, including the sea salt you promote. Be afraid of any salt that is not white. As far as health goes, you should to be really careful using sea salt to ensure that you get enough iodine. It is not recommended as a substitute for table salt unless you either consume lots of citrus fruit or just enjoy goiter. :-)
White sugar is just brown sugar with the molasses separated out. I'm not convinced that avoiding white sugar is a very good idea. AFAICT, the alternatives are all much worse for you. The things you need to avoid are high fructose corn syrup and any sugar substitutes (not just aspartane). Artificial sweeteners cause the human body to crave the calories that it is expecting, and when those calories don't follow, this causes you to consume more food than you otherwise would. This is why studies have shown diet drinks tend to cause weight gain in the long term, not weight loss. HFCS does the same thing, just to a lesser degree. You're much better off with cane sugar.
5. I think my comments on #4 mostly covered this. Avoiding citric acid probably isn't necessary. It is relatively harmless. Avoiding other preservatives, though, yes. In particular, avoid sodium benzoate. When combined with citric acid, it releases benzene, which is really nasty stuff.
6. I assume you mean oxalic acid. If so, you should not increase your consumption of those foods---at least not without cooking them to destroy the oxalic acid. In the long term, excessive consumption of oxalic acid can cause a number of nutritional deficiencies including osteoporosis.
I also assume you mean nitrilosides, e.g. amygdalin. I would caution again that excessive consumption of these substances (particularly in the form of oral supplements) is toxic. Specifically, it releases cyanide when ingested....
Also, the whole locavore thing has some advantages in terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but it really isn't doing your body any favors health-wise. There are lots of
Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.
The parent post does seem to be a troll, and I don't agree at all with the conclusion---halting trade is absolutely backwards---but ironically there is a kernel of truth in there. The health conditions in Mexico did play a significant role in creating this mess, and we have only ourselves to blame for that.
The health of the poorest, most third-world country affects the health of everyone in the world. This is why we should have more trade with these countries and do everything we can to bring up the standards of living among the poor, homeless, etc. to tolerable levels. Allowing people to live in unsanitary conditions, allowing people to remain destitute, etc. is the best possible way to guarantee these sorts of outbreaks in the future. At least in the long run, our best hope of survival is in opening the borders more, not less. NAFTA was a start, but it really isn't enough.
We as a society have to learn that our planet is not a bunch of countries. No man is an island. We are all connected in a giant worldwide ecosystem, and what happens to the poorest and the lowliest among us happens in part to all of us. The closed nature of the U.S./Mexico border is a significant cause of this crisis, not a solution, and instead of paranoid protectionist policies, we should be asking how we can help.
Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.
> Even if your theory about the origin of this form of the virus is correct, you cannot get the flu from eating pork. These bans are simply sowing more ignorance.
Yeah, so tell me this smart guy: why did all my bacon have to be cured? What do you have to say to THAT!?
No, the pig go. The dove fly:
The pig go. Go is to the fountain. The pig put foot. Grunt. Foot in what? ketchup. The dove fly. Fly is in sky. The dove drop something. The something on the pig. The pig disgusting. The pig rattle. Rattle with dove. The dove angry. The pig leave. The dove produce. Produce is chicken wing. With wing bark. No Quack.
I believe the above passage is a prediction of this epidemic by the nascent brain of Skynet.
Ok, we need to put a stop to this myth like thirty years ago.
THE AIR ON PLANES ISN'T RECYCLED.
It seems your information is outdated. Once again, Google to the rescue:
http://www.scientificjournals.com/sj/espr/Pdf/aId/2518
Quoting:
Today some 50% of commercial passen- ger aircraft use recirculated air for ventilation of the passenger cabin
also here: http://www.faqs.org/faqs/travel/air/handbook/part3/section-3.html
Newer airplanes recirculate part of the cabin air (up to 50%) to save fuel, in contrast with older planes, which use all fresh air ventilation.
and a small article here:
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Health/story?id=1213901&page=1
There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.
In Canada, the swine get influenza from you!
The health of the poorest, most third-world country affects the health of everyone in the world. This is why we should have more trade with these countries and do everything we can to bring up the standards of living among the poor, homeless, etc. to tolerable levels. Allowing people to live in unsanitary conditions, allowing people to remain destitute, etc. is the best possible way to guarantee these sorts of outbreaks in the future. At least in the long run, our best hope of survival is in opening the borders more, not less. NAFTA was a start, but it really isn't enough.
This will never happen as long as corporations and money rule the world. Bringing other countries up to reasonable living conditions will increase the hourly wadge since a better living is also more expensive. This means producing an item will cost more for the corporations, less profit, and will also increase the cost to the consumer.
So unless something major happens, asteroid hit, huge volcano erupts or maybe an alien attack we will exploit our third/second world slaves for a very long time to come.
bears come into the equation, will we be forced to call it manbearpig flu?
Sweet revenge at last....
The most probable cause for this is CAFO farming in Mexico with even more lenient legislation than the ones you see in the US.
Its not a matter of "poor sanitation" in Mexico. Its a matter of US big bussiness being completely irresponsible and a government, here in Mexico, that tends to say "YAY" to anything the US government says, including permiting CAFO farming here because "it creates jobs"... or so said the Bush people when they vouched that smithfield was a great company to be producing pork in Mexico.
NO SIG
... kill all humans then. It worked the other way around!
I had thought it was benzoate + ascorbic acid that produced benzene, but I could see citric (another tricarboxylic, is it reducing?) acid might also.
Someone please mod parent up informative.
...the future crusty old bastards are already drinking the Kool-Aid.
Yeah, that's funny. And subtle. But maybe a little too subtle for /. - this isn't a science community, it's a computer nerd community.
You're right that it reacts with ascorbic acid. I've also read that it breaks down in the presence of citric acid, but IANAC, so I can't be 100% certain that this is correct. Either way, the ingredient to avoid is the sodium benzoate, not the citric acid. :-)
Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.
Jesus christ it's Jenny McCarthy, get in the car!!!
And don't get anywhere near your car, gasoline can contain up to 1% benzene :).
Actually, the idea of being able to reduce benzoic acid to benzene is nonsense, you get benzalcohol that route. You'd need to be able to decarboxylate.
I'm aging rapidly, I bought a new game and had no idea if my machine was good for it.
Yes, only ppb. Very small amounts.
...the future crusty old bastards are already drinking the Kool-Aid.
But it does undergo decarboxylation. It has been shown in multiple studies, including one by the FDA, that sodium benzoate does, in fact, turn into benzene when acidic products use it as a preservative. The amount of benzene depends on temperature and light (e.g. refrigerated cans would have lower levels than room temperature clear plastic bottles). Several soft drinks over the years have shown levels of benzene that were well outside even the most lax exposure limits for benzene in drinking water.
If you want citations, just see the Wikipedia article on sodium benzoate or the more specific article benzene in soft drinks.
Oh, and on the citric acid thing, according to that article, it isn't believed to cause it in significant amounts, but it can accelerate decarboxylation in the presence of ascorbic or erythorbic acid.
Don't drink gasoline. Thanks for the tip. I'll keep that in mind. :-D
Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.
Agreed. In my town, the state and municipal governments, eager to cut profitable deals with USA corporations,
1) Green-lighted a huge sanitary landfill very close to the sea shore.
2) Approved the construction of an industrial gas distribution center, smack in the middle of a wine valley that is gaining international recognition.
However, the local population agrees that the natural beauty of the region would be put to much better use in long-term visions of tourism, and once you mess it up, it stays messed up. Projects of an industrial nature would not only be eyesores, but would also have adverse ecological impact in areas that could be put to much better use. I mean, sure, a new garbage dump may be necessary, but within striking distance of the beach? Gas trucks roaring in and out at all hours, within earshot of vineyards, B&Bs and restaurants?
Fully aware of public consensus, willfully oblivious to any concept of "zoning", the government attempted to steamroll their agenda behind closed doors and with no public dialogue, triggering massive protests that effectively shut down both projects. In response, shocked about not getting his way and losing his under-the-table cut in the deals, our "honorable" state governor bitched and whined that the local population "seems to be against progress". Yeah, sure, pendejo, that's what it is.
Since then, the landfill has remained in limbo, but the gas plant has been redirected away from the vineyards, to the north of town, a huge complex in what used to be a pristine stretch of coastline (sigh).
Ever since the PAN has gained political power in large areas of Mexico, many of its' high-ranking officials seem to have become very, very wealthy, catering to Big Business investments of any type, with no filter and no vision, just a Rod Blagojevich, "what's in it for me", "this is fucking golden" attitude.
Lil' Thindime, lilting a lacrimose lament, krashes the kwaint konfines of Kokonino Kounty
According to Russell Hoban's "Pilgermann" Muslims may not eat pork but they're not averse to fucking pigs.
That used to be true, but now the opposite is true. Modern brown sugars are almost without exception fully refined white sugars with molasses added in after they have been refined.
There is no need to fear swine flu if you follow precautions. I put together a fast fact sheet at http://www.doihaveswineflu.me/