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Given that the outbreak of swine flu probably originated in a US owned pork processing factory farm in Mexico, I can understand why Smithfield's CEO is pressuring the powers that be to stop calling this a swine flu outbreak.
I don't know anyone stupid enough to think they will catch swine flu from eating bacon. I think the pork processors are much more worried that people will catch the drift that factory farming in unregulated environments bred the H1N1, er, SWINE flu which is evolving into a pandemic.
Factory farming, in addition to be abject misery for the animals, is a breeding ground for bacteria and viruses. Porcine viruses are especially able to jump the barrier to infect humans.
Pump the animals full of antibiotics so that you can crowd more of them together before they get sick and die before you can kill them to be eaten, and you help resistant strains of bacteria to develop.
Bacteria aren't viruses, but unhealthy conditions breed virus and bacterial mutations that are resistant to drugs.
