Reply #4: Factory farms

[undergroundpanther]

rending plants, alot of industrial ways of dealing with animals and dead flesh(pigs,chickens, add in poor people in crowded unsanitary conditions) This is a recipe for conditions ripe for disease spreading.
http://www.idausa.org/facts/factoryfarmfacts.html
http://www.cbc.ca/consumers/market/files/food/foodborne_illness/

The air inside hog factories is so polluted with dust, dander and noxious gases from the animals' waste that workers who are exposed for just a few hours per day are at high risk for bronchitis, asthma, sinusitis, organic dust toxic syndrome (ODTS) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Unlike these workers, the pigs have no escape from this toxic air, and roughly half of all pigs that die between weaning and slaughter succumb to respiratory disease.

Poor air quality, extreme close-quarters confinement and unsanitary living conditions combine to make diseases such as porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS), swine influenza virus (SIV) and salmonellosis a serious threat to animal welfare.

In addition to their direct effects on animal health, several viruses are known to suppress pigs' immune systems, leading to greater risk from opportunistic bacteria which further degrade health and result in on-farm deaths. These viral infections frequently go undiagnosed because they are masked by the overlying bacterial disease and testing is expensive.

http://www.farmsanctuary.org/issues/factoryfarming/pork/


The WHO recently described the conditions which are the origin of Bird Flu. In an interview with a China media in early 2004, before the present Washington alarm over Bird Flu pandemic dangers, the Geneva health organization described the conditions under which the Bird Flu virus would spread. The WHO said H5N1 was ‘largely transmitted through bird droppings and uncooked meat.’

When a contaminated chicken makes an excrement the H5N1 strain of avian influenza circulates in the air and is carried by the wind, according to the WHO findings. ‘Piled one on top of the other in cramped cages, the birds easily pass the disease on with their dirty droppings,’ the WHO said, noting that chicken breeders also risked inhaling the bug and got infected easier.

On the other hand, it was virtually impossible to catch bird flu by eating cooked meat that is infected, said WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib. ‘The cooking kills the virus,’ Chaib said, citing WHO experts.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=1333