Anyone concerned about the Swine Flu that owns pigs???

[ametauss]

My son wants a pot bellied pig and I was seriously thinking of it but now with the swine flu, I'm not sure I want to go there....

Also, I heard this can spread to fowl....

Anyone got info??

 

[horsejody]

I'm no more worried about swine flu than I am avian flu. It's more media hype than anything else.

 

[ksacres]

<<<----not worried.

 

[Freebie]

not worried here.

 

[Birch Run Farm]

My pigs just want more food. NOW!

 

[Pure Country]

There is no relation between pigs and swine flu except for the name.

http://beefmagazine.com/health/0428-swine-flu-update/

 

[ChickenDogDuck]

I'm more concerned with the fresh fruits and vegetables that come from Mexico daily and are distributed all over the USA.

 

[horsejody]

Quote:
ditto

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Well, not between pigs and *this particular strain*. (Which is not exactly swine flu in the proper sense of the word). But swine flu, the actual thing, is called that because it is the flu that pigs get, and can be a problem in for pork producers. All sorts of different animals have their own kinds of flu bugs, mostly pretty species-specific.

Regular normal swine flu (i.e. not this) can't be caught by humans and exposure to pigs or pork is not a problem.

This thing in the media right now, OTOH, is a strain of flu that apparently descended at least in part from traditional swine flu, but has mutated etc such that it does affect humans and can be transmitted from person to person.

I don't think they know yet whether the current news item still affects pigs at all and if so how its severity compares to normal swine flu in terms of pigs' health. They are saying there is no evidence that people are catching the news-item swine-flu-jumped-to-humans thing from contact with pigs or pork, however.

Pat

 

[Pure Country]

Beef Magazine article.

The pork industry finds itself with a serious public relations problem that is not of its own making and, in reality has nothing to do with pigs — SWINE FLU IS A PIG/PORK PROBLEM IN NAME ONLY!



That is the emphatic word over the weekend from both the National Pork Board, the producer checkoff-funded group charged with promoting pork in the U.S. and U.S. pork abroad and conducting production and product research. Perhaps more important from the standpoint of an unbiased source, though, the same message is coming from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) which released the following statement:

“Swine influenza viruses are not spread by food. You cannot get swine influenza from eating pork or pork products. Eating properly handled and cooked pork products is safe.”

In addition, the CDC said it has found NO EVIDENCE to indicate that any of the illnesses resulted from contact with pigs.



The outbreak of swine flu is centered in Mexico where 22 deaths are confirmed to have been caused by the virus. Cases in Canada, New Zealand and New York City have been tied to travelers who have been in Mexico. Two cases were reported in Kansas but we could find no more information on these cases over the weekend. The outbreak has caused widespread concern because the virus in question is a unique strain of the H1N1 type of swine influenza. But this is a human disease whose source and spread have nothing to do with pigs. The CDC and other health organizations continue to caution the public that this is a contagious virus that is spread from humans to humans the way viruses are normally spread — primarily through direct contact.



The ironic fact is that, while the National Pork Board tries to protect its products from consumer fears, the more tangible threat is that the virus COULD infect pigs and cause serious production problems for U.S. producers.

Swine influenza (a group of viruses that DO infect pigs) is not uncommon in the U.S. and producers vaccinate animals for the most troublesome strains. The Pork Board says in a news release “At this time, no pigs have

been found to be infected or sick with the virus. It is unknown if this new strain causes any type of illness in swine.



However, because it is novel, the National Pork Board is urging producers to take extra precaution to protect

our industry’s workers and our animals.” The Board goes on to list a number of measures that producers can follow to protect their herds, including heightened biosecurity measures, strict enforcement of sick leave policies, careful management of workers reporting international travel and limiting visitors to swine facilities. Smithfield Foods, which has extensive swine production joint ventures in Mexico, reported on Sunday evening that it “has found no clinical signs or symptoms of the presence of swine flu in the company’s swine herd or its employees [in Mexico].”



The big threat to the U.S. pork industry, of course, would be a disruption of exports. To this point, only Russia has mentioned that possibility but Russia has proven it will use about any reason to limit imports.


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