Factory Farms and Flu & Hand Washing Advice

Could the swine flu outbreak have a connection to a factory farm?

This is The Environment Report. I’m Lester Graham.

Environmentalists have been quick to point out the region in Mexico where the current swine flu outbreak was first detected also has large confined animal feeding operations-- factory farms. They wonder if there’s a connection to big Mexican hog farms.

A U.S. government brochure indicates it’s not uncommon for influenza viruses to be exchanged from pigs to humans and humans to pigs.

Mark Wilson is a professor of epidemeology at the University of Michigan. He says factory farms can make that exchange easier.

:19 “The combination of animals being confined in close quarters as well as the large number of animals is likely to lead to more transmission of infectious agents among them. And as people --workers-- are in contact with these animals, the possibility of transmission from those animals to those workers is increased. Absolutely.”

But, Wilson adds… just because the virus was first detected near a region with factory farms, doesn’t necessarily mean a farm is the source.

:15 “Whether or not this particular strain of virus that has now expanded beyond Mexico is due to this concentration of animals and factory workers perhaps expanding it beyond the factory is completely unknown at this point.”

Health officials from Mexico and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control are investigating the source of the virus. Mexico’s Agriculture Deparment says its inspectors have found no infected pigs anywhere in Mexico.

(((STING)))

This is the Environment Report.

Face masks have become a sort of iconic symbol for this swine flu epidemic. But Rebecca Williams is here and you found health experts say handwashing is just as important—more important for avoiding getting sick or making other people sick.
RW: yep… and everybody goes running after antibacterial soap. But… antibacterial products are meant to kill bacteria.. not viruses like swine flu. The good news is… you don’t have to buy special soap. In fact… many scientists point out that anti-bacterial soaps are not any better at getting your hands clean than plain old soap... and they might even be leading to super-bugs that are resistant to antibiotics.
Allison Aiello is a researcher at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. She says washing your hands well with regular soap is the best way to get bacteria and viruses off your hands.
"Regular soap, is basically, it has a surfactant in it and what it does is it allows bacteria to be dislodged from hands and then the motion that you're using under water helps dislodge it and make it go down the drain, basically."
Now… since there’s no vaccine for the strain of swine flu—not yet-- handwashing is about the best thing you can do to avoid it.
But... studies show Americans don't wash up often enough with any kind of soap.
Experts say after you sneeze, cough or use the bathroom, you should scrub your hands with soap and water for 20 to 30 seconds. That's as long as it takes to sing the happy birthday song twice.
If you don’t have soap nearby, you can use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that has at least 60% alcohol... and make sure you rub your hands until the gel dries.
LG: Okay... but the best thing is still regular soap and water and that happy birthday song-- TWICE.

RW: You got it.

LG: Ok thanks!

RW: Sure.


The American Lung Association has released its annual “State of the Air” report. Janice Nolen is with the group. She says after ten years of some some improvement in air quality… the last three years the trend has reversed.

“We’re actually seeing more cities in our top 25 most polluted getting more polluted and fewer getting cleaner.”

The American Lung Association says we still need to clean up dirty power plants, old diesel trucks and cargo and cruise ships… and then tighten up pollution standards more.

You can see the grade for your city by going to stateoftheair.org

This is the Environment Report. I’m Lester Graham.