Comments on: The Politics of a Potential Pandemic: From Sebelius to Smithfield http://enviroknow.com/2009/04/28/the-politics-of-a-potential-pandemic-sebelius-smithfield/ The Politics of Sustainability Tue, 16 Mar 2010 04:06:39 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Eric http://enviroknow.com/2009/04/28/the-politics-of-a-potential-pandemic-sebelius-smithfield/comment-page-1/#comment-47 Eric Wed, 29 Apr 2009 18:35:45 +0000 http://enviroknow.com/thesource/?p=353#comment-47 Great post, and good job getting the information out there early. There is quite a substantial body of evidence linking Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) with virulent disease. These sites are basically incubators with the ideal conditions for new mutant disease variants to spread: immune-inhibited animals, close proximity to additional hosts, policies that ensure animal feces is widely dispersed to infect these hosts, pits of contagion perfect as a breeding ground for the new disease and clear evidence of ground water contagion that allow the mutant variants access to human populations (if they didn't first affect CAFO employees). I encourage your readers to look at the list of publications cited at Nature Network (part of the science journal Nature's online community). See the article Priming the Pump of a Swine Flu Pandemic (permalink below) for a detailed analysis of the current situation. Whether or not Smithfield's Mexican subsidiary is the source of this current outbreak (and there's good reason to suspect they are) we are creating the conditions for a new era of global pandemics. Avian flu and swine flu have only killed a few hundred people so far. We may not be so lucky in the future. Permalink: <a href="http://network.nature.com/people/primatediaries/blog/2009/04/29/priming-the-pump-of-a-swine-flu-pandemic" target="_blank">http://network.nature.com/people/primatediaries/b...</a> Great post, and good job getting the information out there early. There is quite a substantial body of evidence linking Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) with virulent disease. These sites are basically incubators with the ideal conditions for new mutant disease variants to spread: immune-inhibited animals, close proximity to additional hosts, policies that ensure animal feces is widely dispersed to infect these hosts, pits of contagion perfect as a breeding ground for the new disease and clear evidence of ground water contagion that allow the mutant variants access to human populations (if they didn't first affect CAFO employees).

I encourage your readers to look at the list of publications cited at Nature Network (part of the science journal Nature's online community). See the article Priming the Pump of a Swine Flu Pandemic (permalink below) for a detailed analysis of the current situation. Whether or not Smithfield's Mexican subsidiary is the source of this current outbreak (and there's good reason to suspect they are) we are creating the conditions for a new era of global pandemics. Avian flu and swine flu have only killed a few hundred people so far. We may not be so lucky in the future.

Permalink: http://network.nature.com/people/primatediaries/b...

]]> By: joshnelson http://enviroknow.com/2009/04/28/the-politics-of-a-potential-pandemic-sebelius-smithfield/comment-page-1/#comment-45 joshnelson Tue, 28 Apr 2009 17:30:07 +0000 http://enviroknow.com/thesource/?p=353#comment-45 Thanks for catching that. Thanks for catching that.

]]> By: buzzflash.net http://enviroknow.com/2009/04/28/the-politics-of-a-potential-pandemic-sebelius-smithfield/comment-page-1/#comment-41 buzzflash.net Tue, 28 Apr 2009 13:45:18 +0000 http://enviroknow.com/thesource/?p=353#comment-41 <strong>The Politics of a Potential Pandemic: From Sebelius to Smithfield...</strong> The Swine Flu Story not yet Picked up by American Corporate Media: A growing chorus of bloggers and international outlets are pointing to an American-owned farm in rural Mexico as the source of the deadly outbreak. The company has issued a hasty denial... The Politics of a Potential Pandemic: From Sebelius to Smithfield…

The Swine Flu Story not yet Picked up by American Corporate Media: A growing chorus of bloggers and international outlets are pointing to an American-owned farm in rural Mexico as the source of the deadly outbreak. The company has issued a hasty denial…

]]> By: Josh Nelson: The Politics of a Potential Pandemic: From Sebelius to Smithfield « Wizreport http://enviroknow.com/2009/04/28/the-politics-of-a-potential-pandemic-sebelius-smithfield/comment-page-1/#comment-40 Josh Nelson: The Politics of a Potential Pandemic: From Sebelius to Smithfield « Wizreport Tue, 28 Apr 2009 06:11:43 +0000 http://enviroknow.com/thesource/?p=353#comment-40 [...] Originally at EnviroKnow: The Politics of a Potential Pandemic: From Sebelius to Smithfield [...] [...] Originally at EnviroKnow: The Politics of a Potential Pandemic: From Sebelius to Smithfield [...]

]]> By: Josh Nelson: The Politics of a Potential Pandemic: From Sebelius to Smithfield | Dailycensored.com http://enviroknow.com/2009/04/28/the-politics-of-a-potential-pandemic-sebelius-smithfield/comment-page-1/#comment-39 Josh Nelson: The Politics of a Potential Pandemic: From Sebelius to Smithfield | Dailycensored.com Tue, 28 Apr 2009 06:00:18 +0000 http://enviroknow.com/thesource/?p=353#comment-39 [...] a Comment Read the full story at Politics on HuffingtonPost.com Originally at EnviroKnow: The Politics of a Potential Pandemic: From Sebelius to Smithfield Several political dynamics are running immediately beneath the surface of news coverage of the [...] [...] a Comment Read the full story at Politics on HuffingtonPost.com Originally at EnviroKnow: The Politics of a Potential Pandemic: From Sebelius to Smithfield Several political dynamics are running immediately beneath the surface of news coverage of the [...]

]]> By: Josh Nelson: The Politics of a Potential Pandemic: From Sebelius to Smithfield http://enviroknow.com/2009/04/28/the-politics-of-a-potential-pandemic-sebelius-smithfield/comment-page-1/#comment-38 Josh Nelson: The Politics of a Potential Pandemic: From Sebelius to Smithfield Tue, 28 Apr 2009 04:52:34 +0000 http://enviroknow.com/thesource/?p=353#comment-38 [...] Originally at EnviroKnow: The Politics of a Potential Pandemic: From Sebelius to Smithfield [...] [...] Originally at EnviroKnow: The Politics of a Potential Pandemic: From Sebelius to Smithfield [...]

]]> By: Moody834 http://enviroknow.com/2009/04/28/the-politics-of-a-potential-pandemic-sebelius-smithfield/comment-page-1/#comment-37 Moody834 Tue, 28 Apr 2009 04:51:09 +0000 http://enviroknow.com/thesource/?p=353#comment-37 Typo: "...being held up by GOP Senators because she is - GASP - pro-life." Should be "pro-choice". If she was "pro-life" the GOP would be doing everything in their power to get her confirmed. W/r/t the story overall: Good grief. Our government will never recover from partisan politics at this rate. The fact that the GOP is willing to drag all this out at this moment is not at all surprising, however sad it is. Typo: "…being held up by GOP Senators because she is – GASP – pro-life." Should be "pro-choice". If she was "pro-life" the GOP would be doing everything in their power to get her confirmed.

W/r/t the story overall: Good grief. Our government will never recover from partisan politics at this rate. The fact that the GOP is willing to drag all this out at this moment is not at all surprising, however sad it is.

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