Sorry for the lapse in posts. I know you missed us and were wondering what was happening in the world of food and faith. Well, things have been hopping with new legislation around agricultural aid to Africa coming out of the Senate and the State Department soon (more on that later), and the swine flu virus--as seen above through a microscope--popping up here and there around the planet. Thought you would be interested to know the following, kindly noted by Virginia, coordinator extraordinaire of the Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Funders -
May 3, 2009 by David Kirby
In researching my upcoming book on factory farming for St. Martins Press, I have come across many warnings from our past about the looming threat of pandemic influenza emerging from large-scale hog operations. It now appears that six of the eight genetic components in the currently circulating virus are direct descendants of a swine flu virus that first emerged in North Carolina a decade ago. That bug was discovered in August 1998, at a 2,400-head breeding facility in Newton Grove, NC, where all the sows suddenly came down with a phlegmatic cough. Pregnant animals spontaneously aborted their litters. (read the article)
H1N1 (referred to as “swine flu” early on) is a new influenza virus causing illness in people. Symptoms of swine flu are similar to those caused by other influenza viruses. Health authorities across the globe are taking steps to try to stem the spread of swine flu after outbreaks in Mexico and the United States. The World Health Organization has called it a "public health emergency of international concern."
Posted by: Sujan Patricia | July 23, 2009 at 02:14 PM