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supplies, resulting in inadequate treatment. Such And it gets worse. Sixty to eighty per cent of the undertreatment is of particular concern in children—the overall US antibiotics production is absorbed by the main source for the dissemination of influenza within meat industry for non-therapeutic use, namely for the community, since they usually have higher viral growth purposes.'’ That is, antibiotics are overused to loads than adults and excrete infectious virus for longer make the animals grow bigger much faster, so the periods. The habit of stopping treatment prematurely — industry can get more meat from one animal. Perhaps when symptoms resolve...could also lead to suboptimal — that would be okay if bugs didn't have this nasty habit o' treatment of influenza and promote the development of | developing drug resistance quickly and rendering the drug resistance. available antibiotics useless and us helpless. "Could drug-resistant viruses then spread?... It gets even worse. It has been shown that the mea “There have now been several reports that oseltamivir industry-trained superbugs spread through air, water resistant influenza A (H5N1) viruses with the H274Y and soil.'*_ Before the WHO and the media proclaimed mutation have been isolated from humans with avian swine flu as a pandemic candidate, a peculiar outburs' influenza infection who were treated with oseltamivir. of respiratory disease troubled the Mexican village of La The cases described by de Jong et al. raise the Gloria in mid-February 2009. Out of the 3,000 or so worrisome prospect that even with therapeutic doses, _ villagers, more than half of them were affected. Two oseltamivir resistance may develop during the course of _ infants died. Eyes turned in suspicion to a Smithfield illness and may affect clinical outcomes... Foods Inc. installation situated in Perote, 12 miles [~19 "Like any successful infectious agent, influenza virus kilometres] from the village. Smithfield is the leading will most likely evolve to evade pork producer in the world, and any single drug. By targeting its environmental record is far several points in the viral life " . from flawless. According to the cycle simultaneously with ...the vector|s] of this Guardian, the Supreme Court in different drugs, we are more outbreak are the clouds of October 2000 upheld a $12.6 likely to discourage e million fine levied on the emergence of viruses that can flies that come out of the company by the US resist all drugs at once. But we hog barns, and the waste Environmental Protection currently rely solely on the 2 . Agency for polluting the Pagan neuraminidase inhibitors—and lagoons into which the River near Smithfield, Virginia.” solely on oseltamivir [Tamiflu] Mexican-US company The Mexico City newspaper La in many situations..." mT ornada fearlessly presented the Dr Moscona, unlike the spews tons of excrement. Mexican public with its own pandemic prognostics, has explanation of the the strange been proved absolutely right. La Gloria disease: "According But by now it may be too late. ‘o state agents of the Mexican As reported in the New York Times (8 January 2009), 99 per social security institute, the vector[s] of this outbreak cent of this season's dominant flu strains are by now __ are the clouds of flies that come out of the hog barns, resistant to Tamiflu. The astonishment of health expert and the waste lagoons into which the Mexican-US Dr Kent Sepkowitz (Director of Infection Control at | company spews tons of excrement."'® Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York) at This possible connection is far from well represented the extent of the phenomenon was such that he _ in the mass media, which choose the natural-born killer exclaimed: "It's quite shocking. We've never lost an viruses theory over industry-created threats and antimicrobial this fast. It blew me away."” pollutants including resistant, mutated micro- This is not the end of the story, but the beginning of a_ organisms. After all, viruses, though microscopic, are new, horrifying, public health chapter. easier to target: they don't have lawyers to defend them or any political strings to pull. Superbug gyms The "industry is to blame" epidemic started to spread The conditions of modern living make us highly outside of Mexico. A Texas resident, Steven Trunnell, susceptible to the development and spread of a ___ filed a wrongful-death petition on behalf of his late wife, pandemic. Dense urban populations and regular high- Judy Rodriquez Trunnel, a teacher who was eigh speed circulations between them are favourable months’ pregnant when admitted to hospital with swine pandemic factors. flu on 19 April 2009 and who died on 5 May shortly after However, these conditions are also met in the meat her baby was delivered through Caesarean section. industry. An extensive global trade and the crowding of | Trunnell holds Smithfield Foods responsible for his livestock so densely that we are never going to see its wife's death, as he thinks that the conditions in its counterpart in even the most crowded of human cities __ installations are capable of generating a serious public are typical in this industry. health threat. In the petition, filed on 11 May 2009, ",.the vector|s] of this outbreak are the clouds of to hog barns, and the waste lagoons into which the Mexican-US company Superbug gyms The conditions of modern living make us highly susceptible to the development and spread of a pandemic. Dense urban populations and regular high- speed circulations between them are favourable pandemic factors. However, these conditions are also met in the meat industry. An extensive global trade and the crowding of livestock so densely that we are never going to see its counterpart in even the most crowded of human cities are typical in this industry. NEXUS ¢ 13 flies that come out of the spews tons of excrement." AUGUST — SEPTEMBER 2009 www.nexusmagazine.com