Quote: "Others believe that the CIA, still controlled by the Bush clan, planted a weapons-grade virus in Mexico City to... generate healthy profits for multinational pharmaceutical companies of which Bush's cronies are major stockholders..."

Show me one person who will get up and say that in public - who are these mythical conspiracy theorists that the author is so earnestly debunking? Straw men are easy to knock down...

As the genetic evidence makes very clear, our H1N1 "Mexican swine flu" virus was likely spawned in swine herds in the southern U.S./Mexico around or before 1998:

"Six segments of the virus are related to swine viruses from North America and the other two from swine viruses isolated in Europe/Asia. As more data becomes accessible, the evolution of this gene could be clarified."

"The North American ancestors are related to the multiple reassortants, H1N2 and H3N2 swine viruses, isolated in North America since 1998. In particular, the swine H3N2 isolates from 1998 were a triple reassortment of human, swine and avian origin."

"Therefore, this preliminary analysis suggests at least two swine ancestors to the current H1N1, one of them related to the triple reassortant viruses isolated in North America in 1998. So far, the new strain has not been reported in pigs. It is not clear if this is due to insufficient surveillance of the swine population, or if this virus has been generated in a very recent reassortment event," the scientists reported.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Flu-spreads-67-increase-in-confirmed-cases/articleshow/4476829.cms

The makers and patent-holders of Tamiflu and Relenza did jump on this and promote it, and it has been very good for their bottom line, as 98% of this fall's flu strains were showing Tamiflu resistance. However, if you want to claim that this was a manufactured event, akin to seasonal firefighters starting wildfires in order to get work, you probably want a bit more than supposition to go on. The only strange item is that the virus has not been found in any Mexican swine herds - but then, is anyone really looking that hard? If they are, is the news being publicized, or would the Mexican government work to keep a lid on it?

This virus was likely bred in the giant swine farms outside Mexico City, and that's where it made the jump to humans. Pig farm employees in Mexico probably fall through the cracks of whatever public health monitoring systems exists. The virus has also turned up in a Canadian swine herd, supposedly due to a farm worker who had recently been to Mexico, but who knows - it could easily start circulating on U.S. pig farms, if it isn't already.

The factory farm industry is now exerting a whole lot of pressure to wrap the story up, but already PETA is calling for the closure of North Carolina swine operations - and they have a pretty good argument:

http://www.thestar.com/News/Insight/article/627748

http://www.peta.org/mc/NewsItem.asp?id=13004

It turns out the evidence for a Veracruz connection is more robust than thought:

"In a 2007 paper written for the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, the University of Iowa's Thorne and five other experts came to similar conclusions. Large-scale factory farms facilitate the rapid transmission and mixing of swine flu viruses such as H1N1. If industrial hog farms are too close to avian operations (such as chicken farms) the danger of a serious flu pandemic increases yet again."

Also, CNN Money said this on April 27, 2009:

"Residents in Perote complained to local authorities after about a third of the population came down with the flu, which they blamed on a local pig farm operated by Smithfield Foods Inc. (SFD), according to local media reports."

Notice also that the Veracruz story is supported by this:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/27/swine-flu-search-outbreak-source

The state government of Veracruz in eastern Mexico has confirmed one case of swine flu in the village of La Gloria with the sufferer named locally as a four-year-old boy, Edgar Hernández Hernández. The federal government said tonight that he tested positive for the same strain of the virus which has claimed lives in Mexico.

The village of La Gloria is only 13 miles away from the Smithfield hog factories in Perote - so, this seems to be pretty conclusive evidence of a close link between the outbreak and the hog operations.

I don't think the CIA is running Veracruz pig farms for Smithfield, do you?

You know, 180 or so deaths in a city of 20 million people - I dunno, this just doesn't seem like something to be that worried about. There's a much greater chance of dying from things much more mundane than swine flu.

Of course, it seems most people around here where I live (not Mexico, the good ol' San Francisco Bay Area) don't even have basic hygiene habits - like regular handwashing, even after going to the bathroom. Blech. But I'd be more worried about looking both ways before crossing the street than I would be about ever catching swine flu. Sheesh.

...it turns out that only 16 people have actually died from the virus. Come on folks, this is not as bad as people are making it out to be. It's not great and beautiful, and certainly people should exercise basic hygiene, but seriously. Out of 20 million people, 16 died from this thing. That is smaller than a blip.

Sigh.

Hey Hollander! I scooped ya.

Check out my Open Salon blog from yesterday:

http://open.salon.com/blog/trudge164/2009/05/05/why_is_our_govt_killing_our_fashion_rights

Some think it's a CIA weapon and the other half are going to safe route and blaming it on the Jews.

Wtf? Are you on some bloody task force to surf the web and blather on about the legitimacy of the swine flu? Does anyone care? Like sundari said, 180 people dying of the same disease in a city of 30 million is rather overplaying the issue. Especially considering what I know of hygiene habits and the poverty of Mexican slums.

Get a grippe, limiting factor, you dork. hahahaha

p.s. When you talk to locals as a way of providing background to a story, I don't think it's necessarily interesting or relevant to quote them or suggest they have something fact-based to contribute. It's a fucking rumor, just like Hollander said (great article, btw). Try reading instead of swine flu vaccines. Works for the rest of us.