Mexican Farm Co-owned by Smithfield Swine Flu's 'ground zero'

by Barbara McPherson | April 28, 2009 at 09:13 am

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Finger pointing is starting in Mexico's Veracruz district over the outbreak of swine flu. A young boy who recovered from this strain of swine flu is the only one in the small town of La Gloria, population 3 000, who tested positive for the virus. Residents say that they have been suffering from the virus since March. They accuse the large piggery nearby of being the source.

Residents in a Mexican community of 3,000 say they believe their town is ground zero for the swine flu epidemic, even if health officials aren't saying so.

More than 450 residents of La Gloria say they're suffering from respiratory problems from contamination spread by pig waste at nearby breeding farms co-owned by a U.S. company.

Granjas Carroll de Mexico, 50 per cent owned by Virginia-based Smithfield Foods, Inc., has eight farms in the area. Smithfield spokeswoman Keira Ullrich said the company has found no clinical signs or symptoms of the presence of swine influenza in its swine herd or its employees working at its joint ventures anywhere in Mexico.

Residents say they have been bothered for years by the fetid smell of one of the farms, which lies upwind of the community, and they suspect their water and air has been contaminated by waste.

The piggery houses 15 000 pigs. Waste from the pigs is stored in a large concrete tank with a plastic lid to prevent exposure to the air.

Martinez said residents have been fighting for years to force the company to improve its pig-waste management. Mexican news media reported that a municipal health official traced the source of a disease outbreak in La Gloria to a type of fly that reproduces in pig waste.

The spokesperson for the Virginia-based Smithfield Foods, Inc. which has eight farms in the area maintains that all sanitation rules have been observed.
Large numbers of confined animals usually create a manure disposal problem.

I just hope this isn't going to mean a huge animal cull, but I suppose if that is the way to help the issue, that is what will have to happen

Without testing the animals that pass through there, it's only an allegation. I also heard yesterday on one of the newschannels that a big overused sewage lagoon was to blame. They thought that the virus was carried by flies that overpopulate the lagoon.

Although the exact source has not yet been found, some media are also reporting that the origin of the outbreak could be traced to farms in the southern state of Oaxaca.

Mexico first noticed a strange new flu virus after a woman died in the southern state of Oaxaca on April 13, but investigators are far from discovering the origin of an outbreak that has spread throughout the world.a

Possible cases of the new H1N1 swine flu have been found in several locations in Mexico hundreds of miles apart from as early as mid-March, complicating the search for the source of the epidemic that his killed 149 people in Mexico.

Thanks for this Jarrett.

Who in their right mind is going to believe that Mexico first noticed it on April 13th?

Dr. Sanjay Gupta is with the boy, (who's fully recovered) right now - it's on Anderson Cooper 360.

Anyone who is familiar with Smithfield Foods should seriously wonder how they are not somehow complicit in the current Flu situation. This company is the largest hog producer and pork processor in the world, generating over 11 billion dollars a year. They have a long and well documented history of questionable behavior going back as early as the 90's. They are a vertically integrated company, which means they have complete control over the hogs from birth through processing.They have also been using genetically engineered pigs for years in certain products. The list of complaints for pollution and contamination is quite long; and includes problems in the united States as well as Poland and Romania. Smithfield was fined 12.6 million dollars for violating the Clean water act. They were found to have 5,000 violations exceeding permitted levels of fecal coliform and phosphorus. These pollutants flowed into the James River,Pagan River, and Chesapeake Bay for more than 5 years.Smithfield has been fined for anti-trust violations and falsifying documents in the past. these records are well documented on the internet. Given this history and the fact that this town in Mexico has been troubled for many years by Smithfields negative environmental actions seems to certainly make them somewhat suspect in the current situation. It is a scientifically noted fact that the pig is an ideal mixing vessel for certain viruses. Springtime is also considered "flu season" for pigs. When the threat of illness is over, we should hope that this company will be at the very least investigated and made to provide concrete proof that they in fact did not fall short on their responsibilities. It is ironic that we need to refer to this illness by a corrected name, It would seem that is more for the protection of the pork industry than to quiet any panic among us. I for one would be very interested in knowing how much Smithfield contributed in campaign contributions for our last election.

Antarcitia, thank you for your in depth documentation of what is really going on. I was curious to know more about the Swine Flu and given the distrubiton maps and the number of cases reported and in particular where, had me investigate this further. I am a sneaking suspicious it is something along the lines of what you have written but didn't have any evidence.

I certainly agree, investigations are in order and corrective action to be taken for their lack of implementing preventative measures and lack of duty of care to all humans and animals.

We are doing this to ourselves, and Smithfield is not all to blame if we all don't do something to prevent this from happening time and time again.