Effect Measure reports in a recent post that we may have the order of transmission wrong--the virus may have originated among humans and we may be passing it on to the pigs, Swine Flu: Humans, a Dangerous Species:
“So far, basically what we're seeing in the pig is the same strain as we see in the humans,” Mr. Butler-Jones said.
“The concern is that if it's circulating in a pig herd, that any other humans that come onto the farm might be exposed and be at risk.”
We still don't have an exact understanding of where this virus came from and are still understanding it's make-up. As Denise said in reply to an earlier post, not every health crisis can be blamed on factory farms and I think the flu outbreak we're seeing is one that can't be blamed on CAFO's. Aside from the health aspect of this story, this is a very interesting example of how viruses can travel back and forth between species.
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