Research on Swine Flu

Hi friends,

Concern about the recent Swine Flu, I did some research into this issue.

In a 2005 World Watch Paper: "Happier meals: Rethinking the global meat industry", produced by World watch institute, the paper already warned of such an epidemic. The 90-page paper studies the impact of factory farms on animals, human and the environment and includes a chapter on "Factory farms contribution to the Spreading of Disease".
In that chapter, the paper states that the unsanitary conditions, close concentration and genetic uniformity of animals in large factory farms facilitate the emergence and spread of new diseases.

The paper observed that Avian flu has been around for centuries but Only during the last 10 years has the disease really changed, mutating into a form that can jump the species barrier and affect humans.
It says that Avian flu is not confined to birds.
"Far more worrisome is the finding that avian flu can spread directly to pigs and to humans. In places with high concentration of pigs and chickens, pigs can serve as a mixing vessel for the virus because of their genetic similarity to humans."
& Now the world is experiencing pig flu, which is a mutated version of a common strain H1N1 that infected pigs. The mutated strain has genetic elements of avian, swine and human influenza.

The World Watch paper also warns that
"Factory farms provide the perfect conditions for disease to spread from livestock to people and epidemiologists are warning of a potentially massive outbreak of disease in congested urban areas near factory farms. "
And now we are having swine flu that spreads from the factory farms in Mexico to the citizens of Mexico and now to other parts of the world.

In short, factory farms with it's high concentration of animals and unsanitary conditions are a fertile ground for viruses to mutate and to spread. Factory farms not only produce large amounts of manure that pollutes the environment but also contributes significantly to the formation and spreading of new diseases.

Considering the above fact, please DO NOT support the factory farms.
Sadly, most of the world's meat are generated by factory farms.
The World Watch paper states that in 2004, Factory farms generated 74% of the worlds poultry products [mostly chicken/ some ducks & geese], 50% of the world's pork, 43% of the world's beef & 68% of the world's eggs. The 2009 figures could only be higher. :<
The production of meat has a very high environmental cost and meat can be as cheap as it is today because of the huge amount of subsidize that is given to the factory farms.
Factory farms are there because of the high demand for meat in the world.
Please make an environmental message today,

DO NOT support the Factory Farms.

For your personal health and the health of the Planet,
Please take less meat, eat more vege.

UN IPCC chairman Doctor Rajendra Pachuri urges the world to "start taking plant-based [vege] meals at least one day a week. And then further reduce [meat consumption] from there."
With Avian flu, swine flu, and all the other animal-related diseases, there is more reason to heed his call now.

With concern, Low ck