"What does S.W.I.N.E. stand for?... Stupid Wetbacks Infectining Nearly Everyone" My 12 year old little sister heard that from classmates.
Considering there is a huge pork industry in MN and IA I've heard more than I ever want to know about factory pork operations and smelled more feed lots than I have ever wanted to smell. I agree there are lot of problems with factory pork operations but I don't think that means that flu is man made. For one a lot of the problems with using anti-biotics doesn't lead to flu but to bacterial resistance and the creation of super bacteria. A lot of new influenza viruses seem to arise from close proximity between different species so while yes humans in close proximity to pigs potentially leads to flu viruses crossing species I think that is a stretch to say that factory farming is the cause. We've seen avian flu crossing species in places where they don't have factory farming or viruses jumping species even without factory farming just proximity, such as with migratory birds. If anything more traditional farming methods where humans had more direct contact with animals would encourage viruses to cross species.
The facts are that the earliest known cluster came from an area close to a hog farm and the conditions seem to be superb for producing this mix of flu strains. I never said the hog facility was the cause, but any epidemiologist is going to make that farm the focus of an inquiry.
There might be a correlation worthy of inquiry but without more evidence I think it is still a stretch to say the flu is man made.
