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Great diary and excellent sourcing!

The other concern I have with this unregulated industrial meat production is the extent to which antibiotics are required to enable the survival to slaughter of the animals.  It is not an issue for this latest virus, in so far as I know, but these conditions could also be brewing the next virulent multiply drug resistant bacteria.  Should one of these bacterial strains also acquire human-to-human airborne transmissibility it could pose serious pandemic potential.

We are now in the process of empirically quantifying the "external" costs of NAFTA.  "Who could have imagined" that these external costs would not have been confined to areas outside the "first world?"  Or perhaps the truth is that an external cost of NAFTA is turning out to be the destruction of any distinction between "first world" countries and "second or third world" countries.  And not just for health issues.

"It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Fri May 1st, 2009 at 12:29:18 AM EST
The flu is viral, but iirc the lethal end state of the flu is usually a bacterial pneumonitis.

So the criminal waste of antibiotic efficacy that has taken place since the drugs were discovered in the 40's sometime -- by overprescription, but mostly by overuse and abuse in factory ag -- does have a bearing on the animal virus risk.

The difference between theory and practise in practise ...

by DeAnander (de_at_daclarke_dot_org) on Fri May 1st, 2009 at 02:15:06 AM EST
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A new virulent yet non-lethal flu in combination with a novel, drug resistant bacteria, say a form of strept, that can spread through airborne transmission, together might be far worse than either alone, especially in poor areas.

"It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Fri May 1st, 2009 at 01:11:15 PM EST
[ Parent ]

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