Researchers identify new strain of deadly pig virus in US...

These are the stories that really make me wonder when something like this is going to cross from animal to human. 8 million pig deaths in the US in 2 years....10% of the population. Imagine if this crossed over and 10% of the human population of the US died.....that would be almost 32 million people.

Anywho...it just got more deadly apparently.

U.S. researchers have identified a new strain of a hog disease that has wiped out millions of baby pigs, a sign the virus will keep mutating as producers work to contain it.

PEDv has killed at least 8 million pigs, roughly 10 percent of the U.S. hog population, in the past two years. The pork supply reduction was largely responsible for pushing prices to record highs. It is unknown how the virus, which causes extreme diarrhea in piglets, came to the United States. It was previously found in parts of Asia and Europe.

Source

I read that this was related to the higher price of pork a while back. I worry about the price of bacon going too high.

originally posted by: rickymouse
I read that this was related to the higher price of pork a while back. I worry about the price of bacon going too high.

I think I would have a harder time with the price of bacon going through the roof than I would with gas. That would be a true disaster in my book.

Better start buying uncut bacon and freezing it now....that and some pork belly cuts....crap...now all I can think of is pork belly cooked in cast iron over some muenster cheese garlic grits......

a reply to: Vasa Croe

Are you discussing fried sidepork? That can be better than bacon if the sidepork is fresh.

They really need a little emoticon that is drooling for times like this. It would be widely used in the food forum.

I noticed the price increase myself a while back, but it seemed to be smoked pork (Ham, Bacon, etc), while raw pork prices didn't seem to go too high.

However, what I did notice last week when I went grocery shopping was beef prices. Eeek! They seemed to have really jumped up.

But but but...the bacon!!!!

That is because China bought Smithfield . The biggest pork producing corporation in the US. I live across the river from Smithfield VA. And should pay the lowest prices for pork because of low transportation costs but bacon has gone to nearly $8.00 per pound. That's steak prices for breakfast meat.


Reply to: eriktheawful

originally posted by: eriktheawful
I noticed the price increase myself a while back, but it seemed to be smoked pork (Ham, Bacon, etc), while raw pork prices didn't seem to go too high.

However, what I did notice last week when I went grocery shopping was beef prices. Eeek! They seemed to have really jumped up.

Yeah, beef prices over the holidays were crazy high. Another thing I saw that was unusually high was rack of lamb.

originally posted by: Vasa Croe
These are the stories that really make me wonder when something like this is going to cross from animal to human. 8 million pig deaths in the US in 2 years....10% of the population. Imagine if this crossed over and 10% of the human population of the US died.....that would be almost 32 million people.

Anywho...it just got more deadly apparently.

U.S. researchers have identified a new strain of a hog disease that has wiped out millions of baby pigs, a sign the virus will keep mutating as producers work to contain it.

PEDv has killed at least 8 million pigs, roughly 10 percent of the U.S. hog population, in the past two years. The pork supply reduction was largely responsible for pushing prices to record highs. It is unknown how the virus, which causes extreme diarrhea in piglets, came to the United States. It was previously found in parts of Asia and Europe.

Source

a disease whose primary mode of lethal action is diarhea is not gonna kill 32M americans. it can be handled with rehydration and electrolytes.

a reply to: stormbringer1701

Not if you can't get the dehydration under control. just giving electrolytes will only help prevent the dehydration. I had giardia once and had to be helicoptered to a hospital in San Diego because of how fast dehydration occurred. If this hit 32 million in the same year, a vast majority would die as hospitals could not handle the influx.

Here's the difference between the swine population and the die-off of piglets: we don't house human populations in groups of 30k or more in one facility. We also don't have massive insurance policies against the die-off of thousands of our offspring.
It is a common and accepted practice to kill all the piglets once this virus (or any virus for that matter) pops up in a swine population. These animals have no natural immunity to anything because of the conditions under which they are raised. The sows are pumped full of antibiotics and hormones routinely, creating a situation in which if one gets sick, they all have to be slaughtered.

It's a Chinese plot to steal the entire rest of the pork industry.

How China Became the World’s Largest Pork Producer

Have you heard about China's "pork miracle?" In 2012, Chinese pork farmers produced 50 million metric tons of pork. That’s twice the amount of the meat produced in all 27 E.U. countries and five times the amount produced in the U.S.

Or, to put it another way: Over half the world's pigs now live in China.

originally posted by: Vasa Croe
a reply to: stormbringer1701

Not if you can't get the dehydration under control. just giving electrolytes will only help prevent the dehydration. I had giardia once and had to be helicoptered to a hospital in San Diego because of how fast dehydration occurred. If this hit 32 million in the same year, a vast majority would die as hospitals could not handle the influx.

if IV fluids and electrolytes are not cutting it they can go that route that had the medically ignorant aghast in the difi torture report. you can be rehydrated and fed nutrients via what is essentially an enema. far from being a torture technique it is a medical procedure designed to keep people alive. it isn't pretty but it works.

originally posted by: stormbringer1701

originally posted by: Vasa Croe
a reply to: stormbringer1701

Not if you can't get the dehydration under control. just giving electrolytes will only help prevent the dehydration. I had giardia once and had to be helicoptered to a hospital in San Diego because of how fast dehydration occurred. If this hit 32 million in the same year, a vast majority would die as hospitals could not handle the influx.

if IV fluids and electrolytes are not cutting it they can go that route that had the medically ignorant aghast in the difi torture report. you can be rehydrated and fed nutrients via what is essentially an enema. far from being a torture technique it is a medical procedure designed to keep people alive. it isn't pretty but it works.

Mmmm....home enema kits for the family. Very nasty picture in my head of the 5 of us having to do that at the same time.

originally posted by: Vasa Croe




Mmmm....home enema kits for the family. Very nasty picture in my head of the 5 of us having to do that at the same time.

i don't disagree. It would be nasty. bio-contamination sanitation protocol would be horrendous as well. regardless; 35 million people would not die particularly with antiviral therapy and the avaialbility of modern life supporting equipment and drugs. more primitive countries would not fare as well. also we do not know about the virulence of the virus in human hosts if it were to cross the species barrier.

Isn't it strange that this virus has been around since 2010, and despite pork prices rising there has been little to no coverage of the epidemic? What I find even stranger is that instead of there being news coverage there is over popularization of bacon in media and pop culture. I've wondered about the bacon fad since it started a few years ago with bacon this and bacon that on t-shirts, in unusual combinations with food, memes, greeting cards, and on t.v. I've been thinking this marketing technique was connected to something malevolent. Is this our propaganda protecting the pork industry?a reply to: Vasa Croe