Summary:
There has been “an unprecedented rise in infectious diseases
in recent decades, 75% of which are “Zoonotic”. A zoonotic disease is a disease
that can pass from animals to humans; or one that is present in animals and can
also infect a human. According to the International Livestock Research Institute
2.7 million human deaths are a result of zoonotic illnesses each year. Swine
flu came in 2009 and “infected an estimated 60 million Americans, resulting in
12,000 deaths.”(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) The pork industry
is not required to get livestock tested, and if they choose to get them tested
they do not have to share their results with health authorities. The conditions
animals live, which we as a human population consume, are unhealthy to them and
potentially to us as well. New zoonotic diseases are showing up all over the
world and infecting people in addition to old zoonotic diseases that many
health authorities believed were a thing of the past are now resurfacing once
again.
Analysis:
Zoonotic diseases are very dangerous for both human and
animals. If one pig out of a herd gets infected with some sort of illness it
has great potential to move to the rest of the herd. For example if this illness
is zoonotic then all of the infected pigs could easily transfer the disease to
a human and the cycle continues to other humans. We’ve seen this very thing
happened recently with the “H1N1” virus. It’s extremely dangerous for the
livestock farmers to let their livestock go without being tested for
potentially dangerous disease; it’s even more dangerous that they don’t have to
share the results of health tests performed on their livestock. I think that
health reforms are needed to protect the “human population” from infection. If
better conditions for the animals and testing can help prevent the spread of
disease and potentially save lives, it only makes since for it to be required
by law.
http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=12958
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