CANADA: Pig farmers are victims of a swinish disregard for the truth

15.may.09
Globe and Mail

Cate Dewey, a professor of swine health management and epidemiology at
the Ontario Veterinary College, chair of the department of population
medicine at the University of Guelph and a member of the Centre for
Public Health and Zoonoses, writes that given the recent hysteria about
pork and pigs, it amazes me that Canadians eat at all.
Pork is a safe, wholesome and nutritious food choice, a fact muddied by
an official from the World Health Organization who mixed half-truths
with inaccuracies in an alarmist statement that circled the globe. He
raised fear and doubt because he hadn't taken the time to read the
science that clearly refutes his statements.
First, it's important to realize people cannot become ill from eating
pork because the meat cannot be infected with the influenza virus. In a
pig, the virus grows only in the lungs and upper respiratory tract; it
doesn't go into the blood stream or muscles.
To become infected with the influenza virus, a pig has to share the same
air space as another pig or a person who is infected with the virus. An
infected person who sneezes or coughs produces up to 20,000 droplets.
Each droplet carries many viruses. When these droplets are inhaled by a
pig, it becomes infected with influenza. Once inhaled, the influenza
viruses begin to multiply in the pig's respiratory tract.
To multiply, a virus must enter a cell. The influenza virus attaches to
a receptor site on the outside of a cell. Only cells in the respiratory
tract - lungs, nose, trachea, bronchi and bronchioles - have these
receptor sites. Once inside, the virus enters the cell's nucleus, where
it unravels itself and then makes copies of each of the genetic
components. These copies rejoin to make many copies of the virus that
invaded the cell in the first place. Cells in the blood stream and the
muscles do not have receptor sites for the influenza virus. Hence, the
virus cannot live, grow or multiply in these tissues.
When a pig infected with the influenza virus sneezes or coughs, the air
around the pig is filled with droplets that contain virus particles. A
new pig will become infected when it breaths in these droplets. A person
working in close proximity to the pig may also become infected. The
person needs to breathe the same air as the pig if the virus is to be
transmitted from a pig to a person. Pigs do not shed the virus for long:
They begin shedding it one day after becoming infected, and stop
shedding after seven days.
Pigs infected with the influenza virus will have a high fever, stop
eating, look depressed and spend most of their time lying down and
sleeping. They are reluctant to get up or walk around. These clinical
signs are due to the body's reaction to the virus.
Rest assured that a sick pig will not make it to your plate. Pigs that
arrive at an abattoir in Canada are examined by a veterinarian or health
inspector before they are processed. If a pig is ill or fevered, it is
euthanized on arrival at the abattoir. It is not mixed with the other
pigs; its meat is not used for human consumption.
Canada's food safety standards are among the most stringent in the
world. Strict guidelines, based on the Canadian Quality Assurance
program, govern how farmers raise pigs. It is an on-farm quality-control
program that is administered by government officials and veterinarians.
By using the adjective "swine" when describing this H1N1 influenza A
human pandemic, we have effectively bankrupted many Canadian pork
producers. Because the value of a pig has dropped 13 per cent, it now
costs more to feed a pig than the farmer receives in return. He is
losing money on every pig he sells.
The bottom line: Pigs are not responsible for this pandemic and pork is
safe. This H1N1 influenza A virus is spread from one person to another
person. Our reaction to the word "swine" has hurt our farmers. It's time
to act. The only way the price of pigs will go up is if Canadians eat
pork from pigs raised in Canada. Put pork on your fork!