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EndlessWire

(6,373 posts)
Thu May 21, 2020, 05:41 PM May 2020

Meat

I'm not trying to stir up the fear pot or anything. I say this in advance because there are those that don't want to discuss anything but rose-colored glasses and subjects that are non stressful. I don't want to be yelled at, laughed at, made to look silly, or told to STFU (although there are those that will take their cue from this.)

There are no scientific conclusions here. I've just been reading around town, so to speak, and find it interesting. Maybe one of you will, too.

You will remember that Trump reduced the number of meat inspectors for pork factories, and is trying to expand to the beef industry. This is where the factories themselves inspect their own meat.

Then, the CV-19 pandemic hit, and now we have a significant number of meat factories shutting down or reducing production, as their workers come down with CV-19 and die.

We have had millions of animals slaughtered for nothing because no one can maintain them on hold while we wait for the pandemic to "disappear" (per Eric.) This goes for chickens, too.

The main reasons that people are coming down with CV-19 at these factories are the crowded working conditions, the cold environment, and ...one other reason that I have forgotten, but was basically part of the "they brought it to work with them, and they were careless" transmission scenario.

I was looking at NK and what they are doing nowadays, and discovered that they are in the middle of an African Swine Fever epidemic. Actually, a pandemic, as that disease has spread and is resurging globally.

All sources say that you can't contract this disease--except the ones that say occasionally or rarely a person might get it if they have actually handle a pig with it, say, at a pig farm. All sources say that no way no how can any human contract this disease by handling pig meat or eating an infected pig.

But, while sources say that our pets can't get it and transmit CV-19 to us, they also have cited incidences where a house pet did, in fact, come down with it, but presumably got it from us. Also, a tiger in a zoo here in the US did come down with CV-19. (Because tigers in zoos are presumably isolated and not handled by the general public, this is a big deal.)

NK has said that it has NO CV-19 cases at all. I doubt that, don't you? But we can't find out about that due to the closed-off nature of their country.

You can read the progression of the pandemic of ASF because the countries have done extensive testing and have traced the various forms of the virus. I think that it is pretty elementary that testing is critical to making headway against any virus.

There are many interesting factoids about African Swine Fever that are online. One interesting tidbit is that we face a meat shortage here in the US which can only get worse, and yet we are shipping meat overseas to China.

No matter what your religious beliefs are, we are also ANIMALS. There is nothing sacred about our bodies that would prevent a species transfer from animal to man.

In fact, scientists know that some animal vector brought this mutation out and cross-contaminated us. But, we don't know exactly what happened. And, most of the symptoms from the various severe respiratory syndromes are much the same. The only way to know what you are really looking at is by microscopic evidence.

China seems to be experiencing a new severe outbreak of this novel virus. They are locking down again while we are opening up even though we know that CV-19 is still rampant here.

Here are links that might interest you:

https://graphics.reuters.com/HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS/USA-MEATPACKING/qmypmnxxbvr/index.html

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/animal-disease-information/swine-disease-information/african-swine-fever/seminar

https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/swine-flu-and-h1n1-influenza

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/sites/default/files/public/php/569/569_h1n1factsheet.pdf

https://theconversation.com/the-mysterious-disappearance-of-the-first-sars-virus-and-why-we-need-a-vaccine-for-the-current-one-but-didnt-for-the-other-137583

Of all the links, the last one is the most interesting. They explain a lot of the attempts to develop a vaccine, about the most promising drugs, and why tRump is probably a fool to be taking his for-profit drug.

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The Velveteen Ocelot

(115,269 posts)
1. The zoo tiger got it from her keeper, not from the meat she was eating.
Thu May 21, 2020, 05:46 PM
May 2020

Seven other cats at the Bronx Zoo also tested positive, and they were cared for by the same keeper. Their symptoms were mild and they have all recovered (as far as I know, so has the keeper). There is no evidence that the virus can be transmitted back to humans from animals; this is because the virus behaves differently in different species.

Retrograde

(10,068 posts)
2. My cat tested positive for a corona virus
Thu May 21, 2020, 05:58 PM
May 2020

It's, according to the vet, fairly common in cats, not closely related to Covid-19, and no known cases of its affecting humans. However, since viruses can and do mutate and can pass between species, so I would not be too surprised to hear some animal strain mutated to cause the current strain. But I would expect it to show up in the animal handlers rather than the meat handlers: we're pretty sure that the latter are getting it from each other and from their community.

Bayard

(21,802 posts)
4. Corona is included in the vaccinations I give my dogs
Thu May 21, 2020, 06:08 PM
May 2020

I'm sure its not for Covid-19, but I have wondered why some pharma company hasn't tried adapting it.

captain queeg

(10,035 posts)
5. I read awhile back about China, the worlds biggest consumers of pork, having trouble meeting demand
Thu May 21, 2020, 06:24 PM
May 2020

Due to disease. One of their responses is to be breeding super pigs that are much larger than usual. What could go wrong?

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