May 1, 2009 Swine Flu Update: The Epi-Porcine-Center?

Epidemiological eyes turn toward Granjas Carroll in Veracruz

By Aran Shetterly May 1, 2009 - 13:55

As I posted this update, an article appeared in the Wall Street Journal possibly linking A/H1N1 to California.

In Veracruz´s Perote Valley, only a few kilometers from the state capital Xalapa, an industrial pig farm turns nearly a million hogs a year intotocino and carnitas and provides work for the residents of a town called La Gloria.

Until two weeks ago, this tucked-away valley was far beyond the gaze of the international press. Now, news crews from around the world are headed there to get a look at¨patient zero¨ and the pig farm where some think this A/H1N1 swine flu may have originated.

¨Patientzero¨ is ÉdgarHernández, a five-year old boy who lives in Perote. He suffered and then survived, the swine flu virus. The Governor of the state of Veracruz, FidelHerrera, and other state and local authorities claim that Edgar is the only A/H1N1victim in his town. However, it turns out that during March and early April, hundreds of people in the area were sick, though local officials say they suffered from something other than swine flu.

This pig farm in Perote is a joint venture between Smithfield Farms, the world´slargest producer of pork, based in Virginia, and Agroindustrias de Mexico, a Mexican multinational that produces and distributes coffee, cacao, cotton, cornand pigs. Agroindustrias de Mexico even has an agro-finance business that lends money to its providers. The name of the joint venture pig farm is Granjas Carroll (Carroll Farms).

As journalists have begun to focus on La Gloria in the hunt for this swine flu´sorigin, Governor Herrera and other Mexican officials are pointing fingers at Asia and the US as the source. Mexico´s Health Secretary, Jose Angel Cordovaalso has rejected the spotlight cast on the Perote Valley.

t o read complete article in:

www.insidemex.com/living-in-mexico/blog-living-in-mexico/may-1-2009-swine-flu-update-the-epi-porcine-center+smithfield+farms+porcine+flu+virus&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk