You may have noticed not noticing panicky newspaper reports on the outbreak of pig-borne disease in Sichuan province in southwestern China. That's because there hasn't been a new case reported in about three weeks (Aug. 5 was the last) and it's fallen pretty much off the radar. Which is kind of a shame, because more attention might have led to a closer examination of farming practices, which are the reall issue here.
Below are some points about the pig-borne disease, aka streptococcus suis, which killed about 40 people in China this year. There have also been cases reported in Guandong province in the south and in Hong Kong, but the disease is endemic in Asia and these infections may or may not be tied to this outbreak.
Most of the below is based on first-hand info, so i'm not going to be able to provide links to all of the below.
--It wasn't bird flu, and it wasn't a cross-infection with birdflu. This theory was being retailed by people who should have known better. No trace of avian influenza turned up in tests.
--It wasn't ebola. The ridiculous idea that it was was being retailed by some people who almost certainly DID know better, but didn't want to pass up the opportunity for some propanda.
--It didn't pass between humans. Only people actively involved in pig butchery or cooking contracted the disease (doctors from Hong Kong who speak the language were given unlimited clinical access to patients hospitalized with the disease.)Immediate household contacts didn't get sick.
--It's not clear whether the disease was caused by a variant bacterial strain in a meaningful sort of way. While there were mutations from the index form, bacteria are a lot more complicated than viruses and it isn't clear what impact the changes would have. Smart money, however, is on it being a mutated form of the bacteria.
--What would have caused the mutation? Well scientists and pig farmers in Hong Kong have said that Chinese farmers both overuse antibiotics and (this is almost unbelievable) develop their own homemade vaccines. This provides a fantastic breeding ground for antibiotic-resistant strains.
--Supporting this suggestion is the fact that China's Ministry of Health has released its full report on the outbreak (and the World Health Organization has generally been hapy with the human-health response), but the Ministry of Agriculture has NOT released its report.
--Anxiety in Hong Kong has moved on to malachite green, a (possibly) carcinogenic industrial dye that was used to treate infections in farmed fished raised in China, despite the fact that Beijing had banned the compound (as had many industrialized countries.) China's government said that no one was using the addititive -- but then proceeded to shut down a bunch of fish farms anyway (obviously the first part was a lie.)
My conclusion: the basic problem is that if you raise animals at high densities you're asking for disease outbreak problems. China, a densely populated, developing country full people hugely eager to get rich, and with a regulatory system that's struggled to keep pace with growth. Plus the system is incredibly corrupt, so what oversight there is is often compromised.
Crossposted to symmachus