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Where else are pigs and geese keep in close proximity with no care for hygiene and spread of flu?
CHINA for the win!
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Why does it ALWAYS start in China?
China Syndrome
Where else are pigs and geese keep in close proximity with no care for hygiene and spread of flu?
CHINA for the win!
This exactly.
From a virology standpoint, the pigs are the issue. We don't catch viruses from dogs or cats (or infect them with our illnesses), and even avian viruses don't commonly jump species. We can however, catch viruses from some genetically similar sources like monkeys.
Pigs OTOH, can be infected by human viruses, as well as avian viruses, and pigs can catch human flu variants, AND infect humans. Pigs have been the source of mutated viruses from birds and even bats, that previously didn't infect humans, but are able to now.
By having large numbers of pigs in overcrowded Chinese pig farms, AND with many farms also having large poultry populations in proximity, it increases the likelihood of a pig being simultaneously infected by both a human virus, that normally can't infect birds, as well as an avian virus that normally can't infect humans, and the 2 viruses concurrently in the same pig, mutating and producing a virus that can infect all 3 species.
Eliminating these pig farms (or changing the standards and practices in the Chinese farms) would go a long way to reducing new flu vectors.
As much as I love pork, I have to admit, if no one ate pork and all the pig farms and pig herds were eliminated, it would greatly reduce the vectors for new flu viruses.