Caroline Byrd
Professor Johanna Donnenfield
FON 241
17, September 2015
Exposing Our Problematic Meat Industry Under Threat of Disease
In the spring of 2015, the avian influenza spread across the United States, after one bird was infected in Washington State. The infection left Midwest states at high risk. In Iowa, large egg producing companies suffered dramatic impacts, as they lost astonishing amounts of their chickens. While these companies face many questions and difficulties, a larger problem is revealed. With the influenza’s ability to spread quickly and mysteriously, the disease not only creates many consequences along the way, but also ultimately exposes superior concerns within our food and poultry industry. The problems associated
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A recent article explains that the H5N8 virus was discovered among migrant birds in Russia in September 2014 (Hvistendahl). These infected birds exchanged genes with the avian influenza in North America to create the new strand H5N2. Another recent article shows that it was first detected in British Colombia in December of that year (Clement, et al). It first entered the United States shortly after, in Washington State. Scientists believed that the virus was isolated when the original infected bird had passed. Research later showed that other poultry later infected shared an exact identity match with the nucleotide from the first bird (Clement, et al). This uncovers that the knowledge of how the avian influenza spreads is unknown and is left mysterious. Any prior understanding of is not certain. There is continuous transmission between wild birds and of coarse a rapid spread commercially. The virus made its way in a short amount of time from the Pacific Coast to the Midwest, thus showing that it is capable of traveling at a dangerous rate and almost anywhere (Hvistendahl). Scientist are without understanding on the transmission route and how long it will continue in wild birds after the outbreak is finished. Because it is the largest outbreak in centuries, scientists are mystified on the compelling way that it can …show more content…
The industry reasonably has been troubled when anticipating the possible economic complications they will endure. An analytical economic study explains that the table egg price is expected to rise fewer than two percent (Thompson and Pendell). This amount is rather insignificant when compared to the numbers of flocks destroyed. The economic problems stressed and associated with the avian influenza are minor tribulations. They give analytical insight towards the values we place within our demands for meat.
What should instead be heavily focused on, are the possible health threats posed for our nation. The CDC acknowledges that the risk for human infection is uncommon, but with such a large presence of the disease, we are presented with a higher chance of contracting it (Jhung and Nelson). At the current moment we cannot genetically receive the infection. However, in other countries humans have reached that point. What causes concern, are the unclear measures that are being made to develop strict rules within the farms and an un-identified solution in response to the possibility of human
However due to globalization, import and export viruses is more easily transmitted. Over the past century the global community especially Asian has been affected with new strains of the influenza virus. The changes in the virus can occur in two ways “antigenic drift” which are gradual changes in the virus over time. This change produces new strains that the antibody may not recognize. “Antigenic shift” On the other is a sudden change in the influenza virus which ‘’ results in a new influenza A subtype or a virus with a hemagglutinin or a hemagglutinin and neuraminidase combination that has emerged from an animal population,” as seen with H5N1 virus. This change leaves people defenseless against this new virus. (CDC, 2013) Currently there is no vaccine to combat all strains therefore “Planning and preparedness for implementing mitigation strategies during a pandemic requires participation by all levels o...
If you had to choose between having Mad Cow Disease or becoming the top scientist in your field, which would you choose? The answer is obvious. Most realize that Mad Cow Disease, i.e. Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, is a fatal disease that has been present among cattle populations in Europe over the past couple decades. In BSE, brain cells begin to die, forming sponge-like holes in the cow’s brain tissue. Evidence shows that consumption of infected cattle could correspond with the contraction of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD), a similar disease in humans. Although few people have been diagnosed with CJD worldwide, they remain fearful of showing symptoms of CJD; commonly resulting in death within a year. For this reason, many Americans panicked when becoming aware that the first case of BSE was discovered in the United States in December of 2003. Unfortunately, the media is quick to show infected cows, distempered and shaking in their stalls, without giving sufficient information of the disease’s origin or the preventative measures being taken to halt its spreading. Before consumers restrict beef intake from their diets they should consider their risks. In America, chances of developing BSE is far slimmer than becoming infected with other food-borne illnesses. Although many Americans were recently startled by a reported case of Mad Cow Disease in the United States, they are assured protection from infection by: consumption of selected meats, closely guarded packaging plants, and regulation in beef imports.
Over the past fifteen years H5N1 influenza (also known as Avian Flu or Bird Flu) has become a common topic of speculation and debate worldwide, causing quite a bit of confusion about its possible impacts on our society. At this point in time it is generally recognized by the international medical community that Avian Flu is bound to become a pandemic, most likely within the next ten years. Research on Avian Flu and its effects have led many scholars to make grave predictions of major global turmoil while a small portion of medical scientists remain skeptical, believing we will have enough time to thoroughly prepare for the outbreak. The one thing that nearly all health professionals seem to agree upon is that the avian flu will surely have a large impact on the development of humankind. To truly understand the threat of this disease and what we must do to prepare for it, we need to look at the issue from multiple angles and consider what the spread of a disease so lethal and so prone to mutation would mean for our daily lives, health professionals, laws and government procedures, and of course the continuation of the human race.
In the United States, every year between 5 to 20 percent of the population is affected by influenza. As a result of this, between 3,000 and 49,000 deaths have occurred per year (Biggerstaff et al., 2014). Therefore, the influenza vaccine is the most effective strategy to prevent influenza. This essay will examine two significant reasons for influenza vaccination, which are the loss of workforce and economic burden, as well as one effect regarding herd immunity. Influenza infection can negatively impact the productivity.
Billings, Molly. “The Influenza Pandemic of 1918.” virus.stanford.edu. Modified RDS, 2005. Web. 12 Nov. 2013.
At no time was a search for the cure for influenza more frantic than after the devastating effects of the pandemic of 1918. The pandemic killed somewhere between twenty and a hundred million people, making it twenty five times more deadly than the ordinary cough and sneeze flu. The symptoms of this flu were like something straight out of a horror movie: the victim’s facial complexion changed to a dark, brownish purple, the feet turned black, and they began to cough up blood. Eventually, death was caused, literally by drowning, when the victim’s lungs filled with their own blood. The first scientist to claim to solve the enigma of influenza was Dr. Friedrich Johann Pfeiffer. He isolated a bacterium he named Hemophilus influenzae from the respiratory tract of those who had the flu in the pandemic of 1890. He was believed to be correct in his discovery until the pandemic of 1918, when scientists searched the respiratory tracts of influenza victims and only sometimes found his bacterium. Robert E. Shope and his mentor Paul Lewis were the next to attempt to crack the code of influenza. They chose to study the disease in pigs, a controversial choice because many people believed that the swine influenza pigs were contracting was not the same as the human flu. The first experiment they ran was ba...
A few years before 1918, in the height of the First World War, a calamity occurred that stripped the globe of at least 50 million lives. (Taubenberger, 1918) This calamity was not the death toll of the war; albeit, some individuals may argue the globalization associated with the First World War perpetuated the persistence of this calamity. This calamity was referred to the Spanish Flu of 1918, but calling this devastating pestilence the “Spanish Flu” may be a historical inaccuracy, as research and historians suggest that the likelihood of this disease originating in Spain seams greatly improbable. Despite it’s misnomer, the Spanish Flu, or its virus name H1N1, still swept across the globe passing from human to human by exhaled drops of water that contained a deadly strand of RNA wrapped with a protein casing. Individuals who were unfortunate enough to come in contact with the contents of the protein casing generally developed severe respiratory inflammation, as the Immune system’s own response towards the infected lung cells would destroy much of the lungs, thus causing the lungs to flood with fluids. Due to this flooding, pneumonia was a common cause of death for those infected with Spanish Flu. Due its genetic similarity with Avian Flu, the Spanish Flu is thought to be descended from Avian Flu which is commonly known as “Bird Flu.” (Billings,1997) The Spanish Flu of 1918 has had a larger impact in terms of global significance than any other disease has had because it was the most deadly, easily transmitted across the entire globe, and occurred in an ideal time period for a disease to happen.
"Record-High Antibiotic Sales for Meat and Poultry Production." pewhealth.org. The Pew Charitable Trust, 6 Feb. 2013. Web. 20 May 2014. .
If these problems could be eradicated it could save a lot of time and money for the farmers. The use of antibiotics and hormones before the livestock actually catches
Hvistendahl, M, Cohen, J et. al. 2013. ‘New Flu Virus in China Worries and Confuses’ Science 340: 129-130
The swine influenza or swine flu is a respiratory disease in pigs that is caused by the type A influenza viruses. These viruses are referred to as swine flu viruses but scientifically the main virus is called the swine triple reassortant (tr) H1N1 influenza virus. When the viruses infect humans they are called variant viruses. This infection has been caused in humans mainly by the H1N1v virus in the United States. The H1N1 virus originates in animals due to improper conditions and the food they ingest. The virus stays in latency form, thus harmless to the respective animal. The longer the animals survive the more likely the virus is to develop and strengthen making it immune to vaccines. The virus reproduced through the lytic cycle. The virus injects its own nucleic acids into a host cell and then they form a circle in the center of the cell. Rather than copying its own nucleic acids, the cell will copy the viral acids. The copies of viral acids then organize themselves as viruses inside of the cell. The membrane will eventually split leaving the viruses free to infect other cells.
The Flu was first founded in Seattle September, 1918. The avian flu can also be known as the “Bird Flu”. The bird flu is being passed around by migratory birds. It can be transmitted from birds to mammals and in some limited circumstances to humans. The flu will also be known as the H5N1 virus. The H5N1 virus has raised concerns about a potential human pandemic because its virulent (deadly; extremely dangerous) and it can evolve like other influenza viruses. As many other viruses and illnesses the flu can be a lot more deadlier. When you get the flu the lungs are severely harmed from infected cells called macrophages and T-cells. The virus can spread way beyond the lungs but generally do not. Many people catch the flu and think they have the common cold because of some of the same symptoms. But actually the flu can be more dangerous if you don’t treat it immediately.
Recent concerns regarding the risks of Avian flu and other exotic diseases prompted some local poultry farmers to adopt strict biosecurity protocols in order to keep their birds safe. ...
The producers of Food, Inc. asked dozens of farmers about going inside the farm and slaughter houses to see how the process goes and they all declined. Only one farmer by the name of Carole Morison allowed them in because she was tired of the way she was forced to treat her chickens. The houses were disgusting, they had to live in their own species and were all together. With the animals all together in unsanitary living space it is a high chance diseases will spread. The animals living the way they do, our food is not really safe. Sick or not they are still sent to
According to the Swine flu investigation team on April 15 and April 17, 2009, novel swine-origin influenza A (H1N1) virus (S-OIV) was isolated from two epidemiologically unlinked patients in the United States. The same strain was identified in other countries such as Mexico and Canada. In the United States 60% of patients were 18 years of age or younger suggesting that the younger population was more susceptible to the transmission of S-OIV or the possibility that the older population had developed a small amount of antibodies from the 1976 swine influenza vaccine (H1N1). 18% of the patients had recently traveled to Mexico, and 16% were identified from school outbreaks. (France, Jackson & Schrag, 2010) The most common presenting symptoms were fever (94% of patients), cough (92%), and sore throat (66%); 25% of patients had diarrhea, and 25% were experiencing emesis. Therefore, the criteria characterizing the S-OIV infection are comparable to the ...