Swine flu, bird flu, people flu, oh my!

The reading by Mike Davis addresses the concern of flu viruses being spread throughout food. The chapter The Triangle of Doom gives a brief overview of how viruses have been spread in between humans, swine, birds, and other species in recent history. Since the H1N1 virus of 1918, there have been countless documented cases of humans becoming infected with different flu virus strains that were transferred to them from animals. This is partly because meat consumption in developing countries has increased since 1987, and pork and poultry make up seventy six percent of that meat. Davis writes that one of the reasons that the flu is being spread so easily and rapidly is possibly because of “production density”, the need to produce more meat in smaller confined spaces. In March 2003, production density proved to be dangerous when a flu outbreak in Holland spread from birds in a large factory farm to birds and pigs all across the region. Countless animals thought to be infected were all slaughtered, however the workers who culled them were at risk for the flu even though they wore protective masks and goggles. Over two thousand people ended up being infected with the flu, and put even more at risk as it spread from person to person rather than directly from the animal to the person. This is frightening news considering all the viruses that are being spread across the country by swine. Davis documented swine outbreaks in the past few years, and that they have increased since 1997. This could be reason for concern, but I am not entirely convinced. Is the swine flu or bird flu a legitimate reason to panic? The symptoms, for the most part, did not seem that serious. The article said that the flu was spread from individuals, but did not say that it was dangerous to eat pork or poultry. Haven’t we already survived the swine flu at Cornell?