On March 4, pig carcasses began to appear in the Huangpu River in Shanghai, China. Since then, more than 3,000 dead pigs have been retrieved from the river. "Dead-Pig Tide and the Ongoing Danger of China Epidemics" was published on Bloomberg.com by Adam Minter on March 11, 2013. The full article can be found at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-11/dead-pig-tide-and-the-ongoing-danger-of-china-epidemics.html.
AFP Photo
People have begun to ask questions and many worry that they may be at risk of becoming sick. The Huangpu River serves as a source of much of the city's water supply, and even though the virus cannot be transmitted to humans, people are worried about the effects the pigs' bodies have on the water.
The state media partially confirmed that upstream pig farms had been struck with the epidemic; killing about 20,000 pigs since January. Dead pigs have been found on the side of roads for the past few months.
People are confused as to why the public was not notified of the epidemic and how it got to the point where farmers had to dump the pig carcasses into the river without public health officials taking any action.
People are confused as to why the public was not notified of the epidemic and how it got to the point where farmers had to dump the pig carcasses into the river without public health officials taking any action.
Many people have compared this epidemic to the SARS epidemic that took place in China just ten years before. The SARS virus was transmitted by bats, sickened thousands, and killed hundreds. Just like this new epidemic, officials in 2003 tried to cover up the magnitude of the SARS epidemic and did not take action until it was far too late.
People are looking back at how SARS was handled and the mistakes that were made. By studying the history, they can learn from their mistakes and fix procedures.
This is very similar to measures taken by scientists Jeffrey Taubenberger, Terrence Tumpey, and Ian Wilson. These scientists used the 1918 Influenza Virus to understand how other flu viruses work and prepare for if the Avian flu virus mutates and becomes transmittable from human to human.
Residents of Shanghai must be extremely worried about their health. Not only is much of their drinking water contaminated, but they also must worry about potentially catching a mutation of this disease. China is so densely populated that if people began to catch this deadly virus, it would spread very rapidly.
The article also shows the government's negligence and its failure to inform people of the danger they are in. I feel like in the United States we hear about everything almost instantly. Minter wrote, "Most disturbing of all was news -- first reported by local suburban papers and spread through microblogs -- that upstream pig farms had been struck by an epidemic that had killed 20,000 pigs in January and February." How and why was the Chinese government able to cover up months of dying pigs?
I love pigs, so when I first saw this article I was upset by the fact that thousands of pigs had died. As I continued to read I felt the fear that the people of Shanghai might have. They may not be in danger of getting what the pig died from, but they could be at some point. It is also scary to know that their government had kept SARS from them in 2003 and tried to cover this up now. Who's to say that the government won't hide outbreaks in the future putting millions of people at risk?
People are looking back at how SARS was handled and the mistakes that were made. By studying the history, they can learn from their mistakes and fix procedures.
This is very similar to measures taken by scientists Jeffrey Taubenberger, Terrence Tumpey, and Ian Wilson. These scientists used the 1918 Influenza Virus to understand how other flu viruses work and prepare for if the Avian flu virus mutates and becomes transmittable from human to human.
Residents of Shanghai must be extremely worried about their health. Not only is much of their drinking water contaminated, but they also must worry about potentially catching a mutation of this disease. China is so densely populated that if people began to catch this deadly virus, it would spread very rapidly.
The article also shows the government's negligence and its failure to inform people of the danger they are in. I feel like in the United States we hear about everything almost instantly. Minter wrote, "Most disturbing of all was news -- first reported by local suburban papers and spread through microblogs -- that upstream pig farms had been struck by an epidemic that had killed 20,000 pigs in January and February." How and why was the Chinese government able to cover up months of dying pigs?
I love pigs, so when I first saw this article I was upset by the fact that thousands of pigs had died. As I continued to read I felt the fear that the people of Shanghai might have. They may not be in danger of getting what the pig died from, but they could be at some point. It is also scary to know that their government had kept SARS from them in 2003 and tried to cover this up now. Who's to say that the government won't hide outbreaks in the future putting millions of people at risk?
This news does not come as a surprise to me. The People's Republic of China is packed to the brim with public health issues, such as unregulated air pollution that contributes to a deadly level of smog in major cities. Still, it is shocking that the most populated city in the most populated country on Earth should be plagued by infected drinking water. We learned a few months ago about how pollution in the Thames River contributed to outbreaks of cholera; 150 years later, it appears as though Chinese officials are unable to learn from the decline in disease that followed efforts to sanitize London.
ReplyDeleteI too am unable to understand how officials could cover up widespread death of swine and then not take action to properly dispose of the carcasses. While the cheapest option for farmers may be to simply dump the bodies in the river, the did not consider that such actions can contribute to a new epidemic. Such an outbreak of a disease like cholera could easily affect much of Shanghai before spreading to other parts of China, and potentially even beyond the Middle Kingdom. I think it is worth following the news in the near future to see what other information leaks from China.
Like Brian, this article did not surprise me. The unsanitary conditions of China's rivers have led to multiple epidemics in the past few decades. For instance, their were large outbreaks of waterborne diseases each year in the Yangtze reason before the Three Gorges Dam stopped annual flooding of villages.
ReplyDeleteI find the information in this article interesting, because possible and daunting epidemics always fascinate me. Just like the possible Avian Flu pandemic that hopefully wont come, diseases may have sprung up from the contaminated dead swine water. I liked your connection to Taubenberger, Tumpey, and Wilson, and would like to learn more about how SARS connects to this possible epidemic.
Oh and I like pigs to as they are very good to eat.