Why Not Call H1N1 "Swine Flu"? The Real Reason

Why Not Call H1N1 "Swine Flu"? ...or identify the sources and dynamics behind any of today's epidemics?

Lawsuits.

H usband Considers Suit Against Hog Processor for Causing Wife’s ‘Swine Flu’ Death

In the first of what could be a landslide of similar lawsuits stemming from the deadly outbreak of the H1N1 influenza virus, a Texas man whose wife was the first confirmed death in the United States from the so-called “swine flu” is considering suing a hog processing company for causing his wife’s death.

Attorneys for Steven Trunnell, whose wife, Judy, died of the H1N1 influenza strain last month, has asked a district court to grant a discovery request to allow him to investigate the possible role of Smithfield Foods Inc. in the outbreak. Smithfield owns and operates a massive pig processing plant in the same region of Mexico where the first cases of the deadly influenza were reported.

Trunnell’s attorneys accuse Smithfield of operating a filthy food-processing facility where viruses were allowed to grow and be transmitted to humans.

Lawsuits are the only power people have to force needed change. Hope it works.









[edit on 15-5-2009 by soficrow]

I think it does have a lot do with MONEY. If it is called the swine flu; people will stop buying pork products. With the economy not doing too great that would be bad for pork suppliers.

Originally posted by dreamseeker
I think it does have a lot do with MONEY. If it is called the swine flu; people will stop buying pork products. With the economy not doing too great that would be bad for pork suppliers.

True. But just the tip of the iceberg IMO.

...If people found out just how contaminated our food is, and the environment is, because of "business practices," the lawsuits would go out of control.

So never mind the economy, we have pretty much destroyed our world. We can take our punches now, or go down later.

Some countries were ordering to kill all pigs.

That just might have been a reason as well.

Originally posted by scraze
Some countries were ordering to kill all pigs.

That just might have been a reason as well.

H5N1 bird flu is endemic in many countries that ordered pig culling.

Makes sense to me - the culling is meant to prevent bird flu and swine flu from mixing in pigs.

Also - why was it okay to cull poultry by the billions in Asia to prevent a bird flu pandemic, but not okay to cull pigs in North America?

reply to post by soficrow


Yeah I am well aware of how contimated our food is due to all the recalls we had in recent years. The air is to not so good either and the water is even worse. I did a paper on polluton control efforts on the Missouri River and the lady I spoke with said it was considered an impeded water way and is extremely polluted. We even have days in Kansas City where we have boil warnings. I always buy spring water but that is not a guarntee either. The world works on the choas theory; from order to disorder. We will always have sickness, wars, pollution etc. There is so much more to worry about than just the swine flu.
Another reason they do not want to call it the swine flu is because of history. There have been two major scares of the swine flu; one in 1918 which was also called the spanish flu. This flu was actually way more than a scare but an actual panademic Of course in 1976 their was a swine flu scare that caused people to get the vaccine and die or devolop a very serious condition.

reply to post by soficrow


Culling all pigs or birds because the flu is endemic seems rational - but there are two things to realise: first, its a massive loss - not just for farmers but for the meat industry as a large picture - and more importantly, it's really silly to kill off every pig while there are no reported numbers of infections. I wonder how many pigs in Egypt really have this new strain under their skin, versus how many were supposed to be culled.

By the way, don't take my word for it - we have a worldwide institution for decisions like this, called the World Health Organisation.

Killing pigs "will not help to guard against public or animal health risks" presented by the virus and "is inappropriate," the group said in a statement.

from news.yahoo.com...

Originally posted by scraze

...don't take my word for it - we have a worldwide institution for decisions like this, called the World Health Organisation.

Killing pigs "will not help to guard against public or animal health risks" presented by the virus and "is inappropriate," the group said in a statement.

from news.yahoo.com...

Okay. For the purpose of discussion I'll agree that the WHO is unbiased and does not serve a corporate agenda.

But my last question still stands unanswered:

Why was it okay to cull poultry by the billions in Asia to prevent a bird flu pandemic, but not okay to cull pigs in North America?

I haven't followed the bird flu epidemic as closely as this one, but for a short answer; this isn't just pig flu (1xbird, 1xpig, 2xhuman strain components, last time I checked), and I don't think it was right to put off so many birds. But again, I haven't followed that outbreak closely.

Do you think it was ok? Does everyone think so?

H1N1 is the carpet under which any public discussion of unsanitary conditions, lax/no regulation/oversight, and dietary habits is swept.
The Egyptian hog slaughtering seemed ridiculous, but, hey, we're coming off another Dark Ages where rational thinking has been ridiculed.

The average citizen's defense against corporate bad behavior is still, unfortunately, a lawsuit.

Originally posted by desert

The Egyptian hog slaughtering seemed ridiculous, but, hey, we're coming off another Dark Ages where rational thinking has been ridiculed.

I just bumped into this earlier. Great synopsis.

The Egyptian government has been looking for a reason to wipe out the hog population since 2008, because there was and is growing concern that Egyptian pigs had become reservoirs for H5N1.

...The Egyptian government is scared to death that H1N1 will come around and reassort with H5N1, which they believe to possibly be endemic in their pig population. And if you look at the continuing increase in suspected and confirmed Egyptian H5N1 human bird flu cases, I think you'd agree there is much to be concerned about.

Likewise, the situation in Indonesia and in China also involoves informed speculation on behalf of animal and human influenza researchers that H5N1 may have made a small foothold in the hog populations there. Especially Indonesia, which remains Bird Flu Central for human cases and potential pandemic explosion, despite the competition from ongoing Egyptian human infections. Researchers already know that some 20% of the stray cat population in Indonesia has H5N1 antibodies. Likewise, some hogs in Indonesia have tested positive for H5N! antibodies.

From the Website FluWiki, from2006:

Cat H5N1 sequences in Indonesia are apparently more similar to H5N1 sequences from humans than either are to H5N1 sequences from birds. What is the most logical interpretation of these results? I submit that there may be a mammalian reservoir for H5N1 in Indonesia and other countries and that H5N1 is under selection to adapt to mammals in this reservoir. Further, at least some of the human cases may be due to mammal-to-human infections. (See also Dr. Jeremijenko’s post at 23:14 in this thread, and here and here). In the recent large cluster of human cases in Indonesia, no infections of poultry were found in close proximity to the village where the outbreak occured. However, pigs with antibodies to H5N1 were found in this region reference. H5N1 infections in pigs would be particularly worrisome as these animals could serve as mixing vessels for the formation of a human-adapted H5N1 strain. (bold mine)

That is what everyone is worried about. That is the Elephant in the Room. That is why no one in Geneva, Atlanta or anywhere else is overreacting about this swH1H1 epidemic.
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The average citizen's defense against corporate bad behavior is still, unfortunately, a lawsuit.

Yep. It's unfortunate.