In South Korea,an outbreak of the highly contagious foot-and-mouth disease was recently detected in a herd of cattle, with officials saying that 346 cows, 1,500 pigs, and other farmed animals will be killed to stop the contamination.

All exports of beef and pork products have also been temporarily halted. Meanwhile, poultry and egg products from Texas, USA were banned by Japan after a flock of ducks was found to be possibly contaminated with avian flu.

The deadly avian, or bird flu epidemic has caused at least 282 human and countless poultry fatalities on farms since 2003, with a 60% human mortality rate. New reports show that in 2009, Indonesia, the hardest hit country, recorded 20 additional bird flu cases, of which 19 were fatal, bringing the nation’s total avian flu deaths to 134, while Egypt, China, Cambodia, and Âu Lạc (Vietnam) were also afflicted in 2009.

According to some experts, the sudden rise in bird flu-caused illnesses and deaths is correlated with the industrialization of chicken farms.
Since April 2009, the risk has significantly increased that a new hybrid strain combining the lethal bird flu and the rapidly spreading swine flu pandemic could appear to further threaten human health.

In a swine flu update, there have now been 1,046 official fatalities in India, 172 in Egypt, 66 in Romania, 55 in Hong Kong, 192 in Thailand and 648 in China. While government records reflect only a very small fraction of actual cases and deaths, the current global total fatalities is 21,473.

We join in sorrow for the world’s citizens affected by these animal-related diseases and pray for them to subside. May we each contribute to the prevention of worse unstoppable ailments by adopting safer, healthful lifestyles, the best being the organic vegan diet.



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