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C'mon guys, I know you have a drum to beat but this Global Pandemic is not a drug-resistant strain of bacteria, it is a virus. Get your science straight before you leap into deep water.
Your headline is misleading. Swine flu is a virus and therefore unaffected by antibiotics. Furthermore, H1N1 viruses have leaped species in the past, before large agribusiness. You are correct in asserting that MRSA is a result of factory farming as you argue in this post, but swine flu was not caused by factory farms.
People. Antibiotics are for bacteria. Virus are not affected by them and can't be treated with them. The flu is a virus. Hence, the use of antibiotics has nothing to do with the emergence of new pathogenic viruses.
The emergence of new strains of virus is due to mixing of strains found in different species living in close proximity. This process has been working since mankind started keeping livestock and farming, predating the development of antibiotics by several thousand years.
I do believe the abuse of antibiotics has led to the emergence of resistant bacteria. But, really, this has nothing to do with the current situation. Don't blame this on the use of antibiotics. To do so is irrational.
I hadn't heard that this strain of swine flu was drug resistant. You wouldn't be throwing together two completely unrelated subjects for a sensationalistic headline, would you? I hope not. The public is already ill informed on the swine flu and this would push them a little closer to panic.
Although there might be some connection between the current Swine Flu pandemic and close confinement of pigs, this has not been established. There is (or course) no link to antibiotic abuse because the infectious agent is a virus.
I just wanted to say that there is a lot to be concerned about concerning antibiotic bacterial resistance and the overuse of antibiotics in agriculture but I don't see a relationship between those antibiotics and resistant viral strains (or at least I'm not aware of widespread use of antivirals in agriculture). I don't think it's appropriate to use the public's concern of swine flu to promote an unrelated subject. The overcrowded conditions could certainly promote spread and provide a diffcult animal reservoir to combat an epigenetic variant to H1N1.
A wake up...
what is bad for the environment is bad for us.
Your headline is the worst kind of fear-mongering. Swine flu is a virus and therefore unaffected by antibiotics. This is a natural mutation, and more about overcrowding of people and global travel.
The virus is not an effect of commercial pork farms. It was a young child in a village who passed on the first mutated strain of the virus. This village had pigs, but not commercial farms. This is an irresponsible article over a serious topic.
Sensationalist tripe.
Even if the assertion wasn't ridiculous it's far too early for such an analysis.
If agribusiness is problematic for pandemic virus I would point a finger at its size first. More human contact with domestic animals means more chance of disease communication.
We can't very well quarantine ourselves off from the world over this though. So I wouldn't blame agribusiness.
Very interesting... I didn't even know pigs were related... I guess that's why it's called Swine.
The commentors have it right, virus != bacteria, thus antibiotics do nothing.
What antibiotics do do, which is unrelated to the strain itself, is suppress the immune system(the pigs are fighting off less as their system is artificially supported). A great way to improve an immune system is to get sick, and these antibiotics seek to prevent that.
That could have little effect, no effect, or a lot of effect in this.
The pigs also live in terrible conditions(why free range is good) which suppresses their immune system further. This is a virus that would not be without factory farmed animals. Cheap food, bad conditions, and you are going to have a suppressed immune system.
Less chance of fighting off a virus, more chance of widespread virus, more chance of mutation and easily spreading.
Antibiotics? Maybe a little effect, probably none at all. The conditions? Absolutely, why do you think bird flu has people worried as well.
It's been said 5 times already but it needs to be said again.
Antibiotics are for bacterial infections. Flu is a virus. Flu is unaffected in any way, shape, or form by antibiotics.
Repeat 10 times and then re-write this poor excuse for a story.
Treehugger needs to clean house, some of the posters on this site are far too weak in their knowledge of science to write stories like this. Either that, or Treehugger should enforce a strict "no original research" rule like Wikipedia
I don't know what everyone is complaining about? Facts and reality shouldn't get in the way of a good environmentalist scare-story. Don't you people care that 1.5 million species are going extinct every single day, or that the environment may contain chemicals?!
If you read the first paragraph, Kimberly mentions:
"a new study by the Soil Association suggests that the overuse of antibiotics could also be a major factor in creating antibiotic resistant super-pathogens (aside from the mutant strain of viral swine flu wreaking havoc now). These bacterial "superbugs" include:"
Note the word PATHOGENS. and the bracketed comment immediately after it.
Read before you spout.
And I agree that the headline is a misleading.
@ Ashley
The article is one that highlights the existence of other pathogens that are extremely dangerous and drug resistant. And you think that it is incorrect to bring it up now? So tell me, when is a good time to bring it up? when the next pandemic hits? This is to increase awareness. So become aware.
@ Matt
It's been said 6 times (the last being you) blah blah, but I need to say this the second time- read the article before your mind generates its opinions.
Um, can someone PLEASE tell us why they keep calling it swine flu when it has been reported it is a COMBINATION of pig, bird and human genetic factors?
my swine flu web comic: http://bit.ly/t9R4D
C'mon guys there is no point discussing if its caused by a bacteria or due to virus. Now that it is there we should be vigilant about it and keep ourselves updated. I have found a way to track Swine Flu cases in all neighborhoods through a tracklet at http://www.trackle.com to get updates.
It's heartening to gain respect for more of the commenters of this site even as I lose respect for the site itself. Articles have been sliding in the wrong direction for quite a while now. No fact-checking, basic research or general knowledge by the posters here have made the site no more than a environmental gossip tabloid.
Since this has been pointed out by others in the past and yet it continues, the only conclusion I can come to is that page views are all that matter.
Everyone needs to settle down. Yes, viruses are not affected by antibiotics but the gist of the story remains true. I use to see resistant bacteria strains in my operative patients once in a while in the 90's, now MRSA and VRE (Vancomycin Resistant Enterococcus) are rampant in the hospitals. The overuse of antibiotics in animals and humans has caused this. No doubt. As well, I am seeing super-strep infections ion young healthy adults now. There is a trend. The pharmaceutical companies just want farmers and doctors to use antibiotics any and every which way possible. There is never any education on "when not to use them." Free markets capitalism is fine when people and corporations stay honest, but greed has been the down fall of our society for too long, whether we are talking pollution or resistant viruses and bacteria. So even though the story is a little misleading, the core of the argument remains the same. We need to change our farming practices, antibiotic use and even germicidal use. They are producing resistant strains of viruses and bacteria. Special interest groups need to step aside and we must fight to do the right thing. We can make it safer, but we must all write to our governments that we demand better oversight.
My daughter works for the CDC. First bacteria and viri are two different animals. Second this pandemic dubbed Swine Flu is actually a combination of swine and bird flu (H1N1). Meaning that it transmitted and mutated between the two species, has traits of the two and then transfered to humans.
The CDC is currently investigating the suspected emergance site to see if other species have been infected.
We have not had anywhere near the deaths or infection rates of a normal flu season - yet and may not after this is all over.
It has already been proven by the CDC and WHO that large numbers of animals concentrated in extreemly limited space for human consumption ASSISTS the migration of bacteria and viri between the animals and other species.
The job of bacteria and viri is to mutate to avoid the hosts amune system army. Hence, the longer we, the human species, exists on this planet the more of these little nasties we will run across and have to defend ourselves against.
Granted in the case of bacteria we have aided the bacteria to become stronger by over utilizing antibiotics. So far we have not done this with viri.
I am all for being green and prefer free-range food sources over feed-lot and the like for my meat. But let's not get histerical over this.
Simple precautions are the best. Cover your mounth and nose when sneezing or caughing. Wash your hands immediately and often. This flu cannot be transmitted by consuming infected meat - but I would still purchase free-range and drug-free if at all possible.
I would like to say that we 'greenies' need to be sure we do not over state our green views by attempting to apply them to every illness and natural disaser that rolls around. Some are truely associated to a bad human influence on our planet and some are just our planet doing it's thing. This Swine Flu is a good example.
O and crhilton have it right ....
Close contact increases the ease of transmission - between like and non-like species. Notice that this 'pandemic' is spreading to cities and not traveling anywhere near as fast in rural areas!!! More contact is likely in cities than in rural areas.
The initial case in Mexico was rural - that boys home town has not been destroyed by this. The whole town has not come down with the flu.
It is too early to make any global statement about this pandemic. For the first time in human history we are watching this unfold as it is happening - minute by minute, instead of days, weeks and months.
The CDC and WHO ratings are based on the number of countries with a reported case within and without particular global regions. It is NOT a value based on the number of overall cases.
The massive pig, cattle, chicken, etc "farms" may facilitate the transmission of this flu but they are not the cause. They may be unhumane, but again they are not the cause.
If we "greenies" want to be listened to and believed, then we have to stick to facts (I personally make that undisputed facts) and only cry wolf when it is true.
To answer Carol and attack your sensationalist article:
Swine flu is named so because it was originally discovered affecting pigs, and that was 75 years ago.
So are you talking about the questionable agribusiness practices of 1934 in this article? Before even penicillin was mass-produced? And as noted above, that wouldn't have anything to do with this VIRUS anyway.
Get some new writers, or lose some old readers.
Carol - I asked my daughter why this is called Swine Flu - she said it is because the infection of the first recorded human case was from a pig, who they guess got it from a bird.
Because this is a combination of two species of flu viri the CDC is testing other animals (domestic and wild) to determine what other animals if any are infected.
CDC also states that this H1N1 flu strain is NOT drug resistant.
Swine Flu (H1N1) - Fact and Fiction
The new Swine Flu is actually a combination of bird and swine viri - H1N1. So named because the first confirmed human case was transmitted by a pig. A rural pig that was infected by a bird. CDC and WHO are testing other animals in the area for infection to trace the viri's evolution.
You cannot catch it by eating pork or poultry.
The CDC and WHO rankings for pandemics are based on the LOCATION of cases confirmed in various global regions around the world and NOT based on the NUMBER of cases overall.
Viri, including Swine Flu, are not bacteria. Antibiotics will not work for viri, although they can reduce secondary infections caused by a weakened state from the original viri.
The rapid spread of the flu is caused by exposure to an infected host - human or otherwise. In other words the more contact with infected host organisms (human to human or animal to animal or animal to human) the faster the viri spread to additional hosts. So this is NOT the result of intensive livestock agricultural practices. Yes, large population areas and the more restricted (enclosed or self-contained) the area the faster the viri can spread between any host organism.
Although we are at the beginnings of this Swine Flu pandemic, we have so far seen fewer cases AND fewer deaths worldwide than any other previous or normal flu season.
As with all viri, the young and old are the most apt to become seriously ill and are at a higher risk of death. This is due to age, not the virus itself.
The best way to prevent catching the flu is to avoid contact with infected hosts. So if you can avoid infected areas and infected hosts - do so.
Wash your hands frequently.
Avoid hand to eye, nose and mouth contact.
Cover your nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing with a tissue or handkerchief. Your elbow is better than your hand for this when no tissue is available.
Wash common surfaces frequently with a alcohol, bleach or soapy mixture. Doorknobs, keyboards, phone handsets and the like.
Antibacterial washes will have NO affect on viri.
This flu has NOT proved to be drug resistant, to date, by any stretch of the imagination.
The common masks DO NOT filter viri and are of no help. A HEPA filter/mask is needed and it is not 100% against all viri at all stages of it's life cycle mutations.
Smithfield Foods, an American company based in Virginia, is the world’s largest pork packer and hog producer raising 950,000 hogs per year. They operate out of Perote, Mexico, in the state of Vera Cruz, where the outbreak, according to several sources, originated.
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/04/28/swine-flu-origin042809.html
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/LT_SWINE_FLU_MEXICO_GROUND_ZERO?SITE=RIPAW&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SMITHFIELD_FOODS_TESTING?SITE=RIPAW&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
http://www.grist.org/article/2009-04-25-swine-flu-smithfield/
http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2009/04/06/index.php?section=estados&article=030n1est
http://www.marcha.com.mx/resumen.php?id=2128
So okay, this flu is a virus and not a bacteria. But wouldn't it have helped to cure the pigs of this bird flu by giving them antibiotics if they hadn't been overexposed and hence developed a tolerance to antibiotics? assuming the piggies have been given antibiotics up the wazoo.
When we stop eating dead meat we will stop suffering from the consequences. This is what we get when we put animals in such conditions, and it will happen again, and again, and again until we move to more organic farming. Oh but organic is not productive I will hear some say. Actually we could have organic meat at a high price, but it would cause people to eat less which would be better for them.
Like SARS this will disappear from the radar until the next virus and more animals will suffer due to our short-sightedness and greed. When will humanity understand its folly?
Thanks for the coverage of this global issue. Though it may not be a "serious" threat here in America, the fact remains that this virus has been detrimental to the health of Mexico's citizens.
If you'd like to read more on the Swine Flu, check out http://buildakinderearth.com
Hannah