The number of swine cases continues to climb, approaching 6,000 throughout 33 countries. Three schools in Inverclyde, UK were closed for seven days due to the likelihood of swine flu diagnoses in several of their young students. In a study published in 2006, the US-based National Institute of Health had warned that intensive livestock operations could lead to a pandemic.

The study stated that domestic animals, especially poultry or swine, in confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) are “amplifiers” for new strains of influenza and that the human workers at the facilities become bridges, carrying the disease to the general population. As US biologist Dr. Robert G. Wallace stated in an interview with the German political magazine, “Report Mainz:” “It’s not H1N1 that we have to worry about, but rather the process that creates an extremely virulent virus out of the less contagious flu virus. And this process is greatly accelerated by cramming together hundreds of thousands of chickens or pigs.”

In an interview with Supreme Master Television, Professor of Medicine Dr. Jose Maria Peña at the University Autónoma de Madrid, Spain, reminded us that mad cow disease also evolved from animal agriculture operations:

Supreme Master TV: Why do you think that factory farming of animals in a general is of concern for the health experts． Why are these situations threatening the general public．

Dr. Jose Maria Peña at the University Autónoma de Madrid, Spain (M): We have a past experience when we recall that mad cow disease was brought about when sheep carcasses were incorporated into animal feed, leading [viruses] to transfer from one species to another until it reached the cows. So people are already aware that certain food production practices may create a risk for the creation of infectious diseases. So it is really dangerous to keep animals in these overly crowded factory farms, because the situation is more prone to produce this type of disease.

VOICE: Dr. Peña also addressed the risks inherent in over-medicating animals with antibiotics, which could lead to antibiotic-resistant infections.

Dr. Jose Maria Peña (M): I have spoken with veterinarian friends, and have tried to seek information and have not found valid and reasonable scientific explanation on the benefits of using antibiotics in the rearing of animals. I do not know the core benefit, perhaps higher profits. But the downside is obvious. We share bacteria with numerous other species of mammals or birds. If those bacteria are exposed to antibiotics, finally they will mutate, being resistant, and come to us.

VOICE: Our heartfelt thanks to Drs. Peña and Wallace for their concern and caution of the health risks posed by factory farming practices. May our expanding awareness of factors such as these motivate a worldwide transition to the hygienic plant-based diet that brings peace to the animals as well as ourselves.