from wWhat an over-reaction there has been to the transmission of a new type of influenze, properly named as Influenza A HINI, but the nickname 'Swine Flu' has meant the total slaughter of pigs in one country, and the banning of pork etc. etc. It is NOT transmitted from eating puaka!
Okay, of course influenza has to be taken seriously and families monitor the health of their loved ones. Influenze A HINI is a bad influenza as it seems to cause pneumonia in some patients and it is right and proper to be cautious in travelling - from Mexico especially. But the news items on TV, radio, newspapers, etc. about the 'pandemic' forgets that there are other terrible diseases such as cancer, AIDS, alcohol-related deaths etc. that have deaths in the thousands. So it is good to see an article in today's Fiji media explaining it properly.
Pigs not source of H1N1 virus: Dr CokanasigaSaturday, May 02, 2009
Cokanasiga says there has been no scientific evidence to suggest that the current strain of the virus (H1N1) came from pigs.
Taken from / By: AFP
Pigs are not the source of infection of the Influenza A H1N1, formerly known as the “swine flu” that is sweeping across the globe, says Secretariat of the Pacific Community’s Animal Health Advisor Dr. Ken Cokanasiga. He says so far there has been no scientific evidence to suggest that the current strain of the virus (H1N1) came from pigs, or that it infects pigs. Dr Cokanasiga says it is important to emphasize that the current strain of Influenza A (H1N1) virus that is causing wide spread concern and infection in humans, has never been detected in pigs.
He adds there is no danger of pigs being a source of infection for this particular strain for humans and there “is also no evidence currently, to indicate that importing pork products or live pigs poses a risk in the introduction of this strain of virus.
He says the fear that people can catch infections of this influenza A (H1N1) strain by consuming pork products has no scientific basis. The Influenza A Virus (H1N1) that is causing this disease is made up of genetic materials derived from Influenza viruses found in birds, humans and pigs.
Stupid isn't it? Egypt is slaughtering pigs and the UAE has banned sales of pork products!
ReplyDeleteWHO statement is here:
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/statements/2009/h1n1_20090430/en/index.html
It gets complicated in Egypt when you realize that most people there would not eat pork anyway, so it means that the Coptic Christian minority would be the ones who suffer the loss of their livestock.
ReplyDeletew.
ps. Last year there was a nasty 100 day cough going around (and I got it!) but no-one bothered with facemasks then!