With swine flu victims officially confirmed by the World Health Organization in at least 13 nations and the number of confirmed cases reaching 705, governments and health care practitioners have responded rapidly to minimize the threat of this combined swine-bird-human flu that has now been confirmed on all continents except Africa and Antarctica.

German flu expert Professor Georg Vogel has emphasized that rapid diagnosis is critical in treating the flu. While not specific to the swine flu, a quick test is widely available for diagnosis that can detect general influenza instantly.

Patients who are quickly diagnosed and receive treatment in the form of medications such as Tamiflu tend to experience improvement with fevers diminishing in six to eight hours.

Preventative measures to avoid the flu include frequent hand washings and other basic practices of good hygiene. To aid in swine flu detection for air travelers, governments such as Kenya and Morocco have implemented protective measures for workers as well as passengers’ screening mechanisms. Tunisia has installed thermal detectors to identify people coming into the country who have a fever, while others such as German airlines Lufthansa have announced that medical doctors will travel onboard flights coming from Mexico.

To understand more of the general risks and the origination of the swine flu virus, Supreme Master Television spoke with zoologist Juliet Gellatley, Director of Vegetarians International Voice for Animals (VIVA!) in the United Kingdom. Director Gellatley described the conditions of most factory farms, which increase the risk of diseases such as the H1N1 virus. 

Supreme Master TV: Can you tell us about the disease element in this way of bringing up animals?

Juliet Gellatley (f): One of the huge problems with factory farming aside from the cruelty issues, are that if you cram a lot of animals into the smallest space that you possibly can in dirty conditions, then it allows microorganisms to spread like wild fire.

The other thing with animals like dairy cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys and so forth, is that they have been selectively bred and modified so that their genetics are much weaker than a wild animal.

So that if you get a microorganism, say a bacteria, that infects one animal, it’s likely to spread through the lot.
Obviously this has been one of the concerns for example with bird flu, it’s certainly now a concern with swine flu, which is obviously the hot topic of the day.

But to me the conditions that I’ve seen pigs kept in again and again and again all over the UK and beyond, it is no surprise to me that new diseases will be developing, and this certainly won’t be the last of them that we see from factory farmed animals. 

VOICE: We thank Director Gellatley and Vegetarians International Voice for Animals for their commitment to documenting factory farm conditions for the benefit of both humans and animals.

We are also relieved to know that the new influenza is responding well to existing medicines and appreciate the efforts of the World Health Organization, US President Obama and nations worldwide in implementing measures to protect public health.

Our prayers for the swift recovery of all who have been affected by this disease and that people everywhere are
encouraged to turn to a plant-based diet for greater physical well-being and peace of mind.