Protecting Pets from Illness

Protecting Pets from Illness
Link to full article below


The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) and the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) remind Iowans that in addition to protecting their families, friends and neighbors from the spread of the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus, it’s important to remember to protect family pets from the illness, as well. People who are sick with H1N1 can spread the virus not only to humans, but to some animals.

The Departments are sharing this message following the confirmation of a case of H1N1 in an Iowa cat.

The 13-year-old indoor cat in Iowa was brought to the Lloyd Veterinary Medical Center at Iowa State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, where it tested positive for the H1N1 virus. The diagnosis is the culmination of collaborative efforts between IDPH, Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine, Center for Advanced Host Defenses, Immunobiotics and Translational Comparative Medicine, USDA, and IDALS Animal Industry Bureau.

“Two of the three members of the family that owns the pet had suffered from influenza-like illness before the cat became ill,” said IDPH Public Health Veterinarian, Dr. Ann Garvey....

For more information about H1N1, visit www.idph.state.ia.us/h1n1/ or call the Iowa Influenza Hotline at 1-800-447-1985.

To read the full article: http://www.idph.state.ia.us/IdphNews/Reader.aspx?id=8FBE90B3-4667-4960-9AF5-1B9B477A3805

First case of swine flu in a dog confirmed

First case of swine flu in a dog confirmed
The animal, in White Plains, N.Y., is recovering; its owner also had the H1N1 influenza. A CDC official says there is no reason to be concerned: 'A rare occurrence in other species is not a problem.' By Thomas H. Maugh II thomas.maugh@latimes.com
December 23, 2009 Link to full article below

Veterinarians in White Plains, N.Y., have identified the first known case of pandemic H1N1 influenza in a dog -- a 13-year-old mixed-breed male who is now recovering.

The dog was tested because his owner previously had swine flu.

The virus has been found before in other pets, including at least three ferrets, several cats and pigs and a cheetah named Gijima at a wildlife preserve in Santa Rosa, Calif.

A couple of the cats died, but most of the animals recovered.

In each case, the virus is thought to have been transmitted to the animal by its owner or handler.

To read the full article:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-sci-swine-flu-dog23-2009dec23,0,2022503.story

Swine Flu in Swine: Flu Could Worsen; Industry at Risk

Swine Flu in Swine: Flu Could Worsen; Industry at Risk
by John Roach
National Geographic News
October 14, 2009 Link to full article below

The United States pork industry has already been battered by the false perception that pork can transmit swine flu. And now farmers are bracing for the first reported transmission of the virus to a U.S. pig, which at this point seems inevitable, experts say.

Beyond the economic impact, experts warn that, if transmitted to pigs, swine flu could quickly mutate into a more dangerous strain, given the crowded conditions at many industrial hog farms.

To read the full article: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/10/091014-swine-flu-pork-safe-pigs.html?source=email_gg_20091021

Egypt orders slaughter of all pigs over swine flu

Egypt orders slaughter of all pigs over swine flu
By MAAMOUN YOUSSEF

http://news.aol.com/article/egypt-slaughtering-all-pigs-to-stop/452501?cid=12

[Read comments:
http://news.aol.com/article/egypt-slaughtering-all-pigs-to-stop/452501#Comments ]

CAIRO -Egypt began slaughtering the roughly 300,000 pigs in the country Wednesday as a precaution against swine flu even though no cases have been reported here, infuriating farmers who blocked streets and stoned vehicles of Health Ministry workers who came to carry out the government's order.
The measure was a stark expression of the panic the deadly outbreak is spreading around the world, especially in poor countries with weak public health systems. Egypt responded similarly a few years ago to an outbreak of bird flu, which is endemic to the country and has killed two dozen people.
At one large pig farming center just north of Cairo, scores of angry farmers blocked the street to prevent Health Ministry workers in trucks and bulldozers from coming in to slaughter the animals. Some pelted the vehicles with rocks and shattered their windshields and the workers left without killing any pigs.

To read the full article: http://news.aol.com/article/egypt-slaughtering-all-pigs-to-stop/452501?cid=12

Symptom: swine flu. Diagnosis: industrial agriculture?

Symptom: swine flu. Diagnosis: industrial agriculture?
by Tom Philpott
28 Apr 2009

http://www.grist.org/article/2009-04-28-more-smithfield-swine

Several days after news broke of a possible link between Mexico-based hog CAFOs and the rapid spread of a novel swine-flu strain, what have we learned?

• Clarifying details about respiratory ailments in the Perote area of Vera Cruz State—where U.S. pork behemoth Smithfield Foods raises nearly a million hogs a year in large confinement buildings, under a subsidiary called Granjas Carroll—have emerged. In my original post on this topic, I didn’t fully understand that the outbreak of a virulent respiratory condition in the town of La Gloria—located near Smithfield’s farming operations—wasn’t initially identified as swine flu. The disease emerged as early as February and infected 60 percent of the town’s 1,800 inhabitants, according to the widely cited blog Biosurveillance, run by the U.S. disease-tracking consultancy Veratract (which claims the CDC, the World Health Organization, and the Pan-American Health Organization as clients). Three children died during the outbreak, Veratract reports. Residents blamed the Granjas Carroll confinements for the outbreak; and local authorities
evidently agreed. “Health workers soon intervened, sealing off the town and spraying chemicals to kill the flies [which grew in swarms on Granjas Caroll’s manure lagoons] that were reportedly swarming through people’s homes,” according to a Monday account in the Guardian.

To read the full article: http://www.grist.org/article/2009-04-28-more-smithfield-swine

Wake-Up Call: Factory Farms Could Be Breeding Swine Flu

Wake-Up Call: Factory Farms Could Be Breeding Swine Flu
It’s too soon to be sure, but some observers think CAFOs are perfect settings for swine flu evolution.
By Leah Zerbe

http://www.rodale.com/swine-flu-and-pig-farms?cm_mmc=DailyNewsNL-_-2009_04_29-_-Top5-_-NA

Tell your elected officials you want agricultural programs to subsidize safer, smaller, more diversified farming operations.

Swine flu source? Raising pigs in factory farms may have led to the current flu outbreak.

04-29-09 RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—The swine flu is spreading in the United States, with hundreds of students in New York City alone likely sickened from the new virus. In California, the Los Angeles Times reports that a coroner is looking into the deaths of two men, ages 33 and 45, who may have succumbed to the flu strain. On Tuesday, several people across the country were hospitalized for possible swine flu, though most cases so far have been mild. So where did this all start? It’s too early in the outbreak to be sure, but one possibility is that the filthy conditions, tight confinement, and huge number of animals housed inside buildings in concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) present a perfect breeding ground for this type of viral manifestation. “It’s the likely scenario,” says Bob Martin, senior officer at the Pew Environment Group and executive director of the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production, which released a
2-year independent study in 2008. Long before this outbreak, his group’s research pointed to serious concerns about commercial swine operations because of the role pigs play as conduits for swine and avian flu.

To read the full article: http://www.rodale.com/swine-flu-and-pig-farms?cm_mmc=DailyNewsNL-_-2009_04_29-_-Top5-_-NA

A dietitian's advice for preventing swine flu: vegan sausages

A dietitian's advice for preventing swine flu: vegan sausages
April 28, 2009

http://www.examiner.com/x-5670-Seattle-Vegan-Examiner~y2009m4d28-A-dietitians-advice-for-preventing-swine-flu-vegan-sausages?cid=exrss-Seattle-Vegan-Examiner

Many of my fellow dietitians have jumped into the swine flu discussion with assurances that it is safe to eat pork. Swine flu, they say, is not transmitted through ham, bacon and other meats from pigs.

But, of course, it’s the production of these foods that gave us swine flu in the first place. Huge demands for pork and other meats can be met only by efficient production on factory farms, where animals are kept in the type of cruel and unhealthy confinement that gives rise to disease. So while eating pork may not directly cause swine flu, the demand for pork does cause it.

Moving away from meat and other factory-farmed products like dairy and eggs is the only responsible and meaningful response to diseases like swine flu. And happily, there are some great foods on the market to help consumers do this.

A couple of my favorite vegan sausage products are made by two northwest companies. Seattle-based Field Roast makes some outstanding sausages from grains, vegetables and legumes. Their Smoked Apple Sage sausages (made with Yukon Gold potatoes, Granny Smith
apples and rubbed sage) are exceptional.

To read the full article: http://www.examiner.com/x-5670-Seattle-Vegan-Examiner~y2009m4d28-A-dietitians-advice-for-preventing-swine-flu-vegan-sausages?cid=exrss-Seattle-Vegan-Examiner