Why are hog farmers not a priority for flu vaccine?
The H1N1 flu virus that's now infecting people in more than 190 countries around the globe -- and that's responsible for the reported deaths of nearly 5,000 people worldwide, including high numbers of children in the southern U.S. -- is believed to have begun in a pig.
But despite the threat to public health represented by factory-style hog farms, where the crowding of animals makes widespread transmission and the chance for mixing of viral strains into a virulent pandemic form affecting humans more likely, hog farmers still have not been made a priority group in the U.S. flu vaccine program.
The Washington Post examined the problem in a recent story:
Scientists have documented the transmission of viruses between pigs and farmers in the United States. For example, the Post points to a 2006 study out of Iowa that compared blood samples from farmers, veterinarians and meat-processing workers to university employees and students who had no contact with pigs, looking for antibodies to two common flu viruses. They found that 17 to 20% of farmers and 11 to 19% of veterinarians showed evidence of previous infection by the two viral strains, but none of the other groups.
And earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed the presence of the pandemic H1N1 flu virus in a pig at the Minnesota State Fair. It's believed that the pig, which reportedly did not suffer from any symptoms, may have been infected by a sick human.
Gray has been a leader in the effort to document the movement of flu virus between hogs and farmers, but it's a tough job. As the Washington Post observes, hog farmers don't necessarily welcome strangers to their farms for various reasons, including the concern that scientists could link pork to human illness -- though you can't get swine flu from eating pork.
The paper also notes that monitoring of pigs for flu has actually decreased in the six months since the H1N1 strain was first identified. For now, it says, Gray and others are placing their hope in a program in which the U.S. Agriculture Department -- not farmers -- pays for testing of pigs where flu is suspected.
Iowa is the nation's top producer of hogs, followed by North Carolina.
But despite the threat to public health represented by factory-style hog farms, where the crowding of animals makes widespread transmission and the chance for mixing of viral strains into a virulent pandemic form affecting humans more likely, hog farmers still have not been made a priority group in the U.S. flu vaccine program.
The Washington Post examined the problem in a recent story:
"The thing we're concerned about is if this [novel H1N1] virus gets into pigs and then comes back out of pigs into people," said Michael T. Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. "The question is what may happen to the genetics during the time it's in pigs."The Pork Board is encouraging hog farmers to get the regular season flu vaccine as well as the vaccine for the H1N1 virus, and to stay home from work if they are suffering from an acute respiratory infection. But the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not listed hog farmers among the priority groups to get the vaccine, which remains hard to come by.
Concerned about just that possibility, Gregory Gray, of the University of Iowa, campaigned via editorials in three medical journals to have swine workers be made a "priority group" in any pandemic vaccine program. He was not successful.
Scientists have documented the transmission of viruses between pigs and farmers in the United States. For example, the Post points to a 2006 study out of Iowa that compared blood samples from farmers, veterinarians and meat-processing workers to university employees and students who had no contact with pigs, looking for antibodies to two common flu viruses. They found that 17 to 20% of farmers and 11 to 19% of veterinarians showed evidence of previous infection by the two viral strains, but none of the other groups.
And earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed the presence of the pandemic H1N1 flu virus in a pig at the Minnesota State Fair. It's believed that the pig, which reportedly did not suffer from any symptoms, may have been infected by a sick human.
Gray has been a leader in the effort to document the movement of flu virus between hogs and farmers, but it's a tough job. As the Washington Post observes, hog farmers don't necessarily welcome strangers to their farms for various reasons, including the concern that scientists could link pork to human illness -- though you can't get swine flu from eating pork.
The paper also notes that monitoring of pigs for flu has actually decreased in the six months since the H1N1 strain was first identified. For now, it says, Gray and others are placing their hope in a program in which the U.S. Agriculture Department -- not farmers -- pays for testing of pigs where flu is suspected.
Iowa is the nation's top producer of hogs, followed by North Carolina.
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Sue Sturgis
Sue is the former editorial director of Facing South and the Institute for Southern Studies.