They weren't Mexican pigs. The pigs belonged to Smithfield Foods and were being raised and slaughtered using cheap Mexican labor.

But still why lie about the pigs? Maybe they aren't testing them?

There was a news story stating that when this first emerged Smithfield dispatched its head of operations and PR to Mexico (may have the positions wrong but these were two very senior executives).

At this point Smithfield and the rulers of Mexico (I do not want to insult them by calling them a "government") share a joint interest in getting this story off the front pages as quickly as possible.

Mexico's interest lies in the fact that this outbreak disrupts a major source of present and future earnings with big emphasis on future earnings due to declining oil income.

The hog producer does not want to be remembered as being ground zero for something with the potential to kill millions. It doesn't help brand equity and will likely result in closer government inspection and increased regulation of all swine factories everywhere. This impacts future profits.

So I would bet a dollar there is back office somewhere providing heavy PR support to get the story out. Stories of lovable 5 year olds who were inflicted with a disease from the sky. Stories about drops in the number of dead and the number infected. Stories of a resolute and dedicated health care system that battled this slightly worrisome disease derived from alien DNA to a standstill.

LATOC published this article: http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/Archives2009/EngdahlFlu.html. Engdahl comprehensively debunks the whole story and his comments have a ring of correctness about them.

Virulence: The ability of any agent of infection to produce disease. The virulence of a microorganism (such as a bacterium or virus) is a measure of the severity of the disease it is capable of causing.

The two sentences of this definition say two very different things. The ability to produce disease and the severity of that disease's effects are two different concepts.

I heard the director of the CDC state in a radio interview this week that the WHO 1-5 Pandemic alert scale measured the communicability of the disease, not the disease's mortality or severity of symptoms.

airdale
i think she's a doctor.
i don't understand the reports of a no. of healthy young adults out of mexico very sick or dying if not virulent; there at least,as stated above.
something is not making sense.

Disclaimer: I'm an aircraft technician and everything I say maybe bollocks..

Your criticism of Paranoid's post is inconsistent. You say you only post on matters to do with gardening and farming, for which you claim some expertise in (you have a degree in those fields?) and you discourage people from saying anything on matters which they have less knowledge than you think is necessary (what kind of medical degree do you have to have to be able to comment on N1H1?). Sure a virus is serious business, but so is eating the wrong berries or mushrooms. Have you adviced or commented or said something on edible plants to anyone recently? Its dangerous you know. Conversely, I cannot think of how Paranoid's, or anyones comments on the particulars of a flu virus could possibly hurt anyone? I mean unless they suggest to jump off a bridge since there is no hope for humanity or something. When there's a heard of raging bulls coming your way, then its justified to yell Panic! In pretty much all other cases urging caution and contemplation is very rational and sensible thing to do, and really causes no harm to anyone.

Further TOD is neither a scientific journal, nor a school exam paper. It's a (quite) open forum where people can comment on things. That's why they are called 'comments'. If you are looking for 'certainty' on the subject, then good luck, you will have a long wait. At the moment nobody knows the 'attack stucture' of this particular version of N1H1 and won't probably know for a long time. The biochemisty of viruses isn't as easy as those of bacteria. What we do know however, and from which even common people like us can make conclusions from, is the observed cases we have and their characteristics.

The reason people are talking about this, and why it is good that they are - is that the 'professionals' aren't giving us much information. Being experts isnt much use because what they say when they appear on press conferences or the CNN is very different from what they might actually know or think themselves. Their messages are mixed with with healthcare protocols, national policies, politics in general. And they have their institutions and their careers interests to look after. So their messages are a mixed bunch of toned down uncertainties, wait-and-see, "more research is needed" etc. - or, they have a reason to go to the extremes: shut all public places, lock down the borders, kill all the pigs etc. Actually suggesting that this virus may or may not be dangerous based on the current cases isnt a statement these people are willing to make because it would require qualification and explanations of definitions and statistical concepts, none of which fit in to the 5 second soundbites or half-a-sentence headlines which the media is looking for.

In order for one to get further information, analysis, to draw conclusions from, whether to panic or to stay calm, one has to go looking for the information by oneself. That's what were here to do anyway - that's why its called the campfire, a 'forum'...

From what I have read myself Paranoids comment is very informative. Indeed the WHO says now that this virus seems to be similar to the seasonal flus which go around the globe every year (yes, we have a kind of flu PANDEMIC every year!) and the extreme measures to stop its spread are both ineffective and wasteful. Even if you hunker down in your bunker airdale, you're gonna get it sooner or later and there is nothing you or any world government can do about it ;) its a flu virus, one of the most simple perfect lifeforms nature has created ...

Incidently I've just had a flu episode all this week. Started 7 days ago with fever and swolen tonsils and all - proper 'killer' flu it was - only now recovering still - still sneezing my guts out occationally. But I've had flu like that before - I don't even remember how many times - at least once in every second year of my adult life on average I think - and its good - it keeps your immune system uptodate - so that you won't die the next time you get another flu!

There has been alot of talk about the potential for this N1H1 to morph into a superkiller flu like the so-called second wave of the Spanish flu. Well, so what? Isn't the chance of that the same as any number of the other strains of flu viruses or bacteria going around the world every year? One more is like a drop in the ocean. And what can we really do about it? Spend all our resources on futile quaranteens and medication - just to find out that next year we have yet another new strain and you have to do this whole thing again. As the human population grows, and as our population density grows exponentially when the poor and landless move into the cities, we'll create more and more opportunities for flus to mix more coctails like these. Who knows how many flu's we have missed panicing over during the 80's and 90's because nobody knew or cared to follow such epidemics?

So the reasons are many why this flu 'epidemic' is overblown and really doesn't deserve the attention and stress its causing. Sure we should follow with interest how it develops, and even comment freely about it. But calling for somekind of moratorium on people's comments is just silly considering the circumstances.

Relax, its not that serious ( ... as he gasps for his last breath)

- Ransu