Patterico's Pontifications

4/29/2009

Is Mexican Water Responsible for the Swine Flu Outbreak?

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 7:18 am



Why have there been many swine flu deaths in Mexico, but not elsewhere? One possibility: the water. Water in Mexico is often contaminated, especially on farms. And reports suggest that the source of the swine flu outbreak may be a Mexican village near a pig farm.

Recall, if you will, that last year’s Salmonella contamination was eventually traced back to irrigation water at a Mexican farm.

Nobody is reporting that water is the reason for the swine flu outbreak. Just a thought. Whether it is or not:

Don’t drink the water!

P.S. According to a viral e-mail, we may have located the real reason for the outbreak:

51 Responses to “Is Mexican Water Responsible for the Swine Flu Outbreak?”

  1. Glad I haven’t already had breakfast.

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (0ea407)

  2. Silly picture, cute kid.

    Close the border and send medicine to mexico.

    Cara (b11809)

  3. I would strongly recommend against having small children lick the nose of a pig.

    I realise Toot and Puddle on Nick Channel is cute but really now.

    Juss saying.

    HeavenSent (637168)

  4. We’ll see this claim more from the looney animal rights crowd.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  5. Saw that pic first at lucianne.com a couple days ago. Hat tip.

    gp (72be5d)

  6. Quick, someone must alert McCain at this very minute! If we immediately grant amnesty to all Mexican pigs who’ve settled here illegally, the crisis is thus averted!

    Dmac (1ddf7e)

  7. It is now politically incorrect to call this “Swine flu.”

    I humbly suggest “Mexican flu” as an alternative.

    Kevin Murphy (0b2493)

  8. This swine flu scare has certainly succeeded in changing the subject for the Obama crowd, hasn’t it? Just what they needed.

    jwarner (0a2a75)

  9. Kevin, better still “Undocumented Flu”.

    SPQR (72771e)

  10. The Monster coined the phrase ManBirdPig Flu.

    JD (ca6b04)

  11. We only need to worry when the ManBearPig Flu wipes out 20 percent of the voting-age population.

    John Hitchcock (fb941d)

  12. I think Barcky should nationalize Mexico’s water system. That is how he “fixes” our problems. Hell, why not just annex Mexico, and make it the 58th State?

    JD (ca6b04)

  13. Call Homeland Security: that kid’s a bioterrorist.

    Leviticus (35fbde)

  14. JD, how many times do I have to tell you people? That would make the 61st state.

    John Hitchcock (fb941d)

  15. 58th. 61st. What is really the difference? Would there be a real downside to annexing Mexico?

    JD (ca6b04)

  16. Comment by JD — 4/29/2009 @ 10:33 am

    Well, only a minor matter of 110M Mexicans.

    AD - RtR/OS! (2736a1)

  17. Actually it is a metaphor…. the child embracing the pork filled budget he will have to pay off when he grows up.

    Huey (1229ce)

  18. MEXICO CITY — A village near a massive corporate hog farm partially owned by the largest U.S. pork producer..

    See, you racists, it’s all our fault! I bet George Bush owns it!

    Patricia (94c68d)

  19. The Chairman of the Board of Smithfield Foods in Smithfield VA(Joseph W. Luter III) and the President/CEO (C.Larry Pope) have given the following amounts according to the FEC:
    Luter: $1M to George Allen in 2000; $16M to the NRSC in 2004;
    Pope: $1M to Duncan Faircloth for Senate in ’98; $31M to various meat industry PAC’s through ’08.

    AD - RtR/OS! (2736a1)

  20. mas tequila y cerveza, por favor.

    if i want to visit Mexico, i only need to drive to Van Nuys or Huntington Park.

    redc1c4 (fb791c)

  21. In my post above, those “M”s are Roman-Numerals signifying (1,000’s).
    Sorry for any confusion.

    AD - RtR/OS! (2736a1)

  22. Homophobes!

    daleyrocks (5d22c0)

  23. When there is no outbreak of swine flu, the water already has microscopic critters swimming around, ready for a host. I can’t imagine what it might be like now. Surely someone has thought to test it?

    Dana (d08a3a)

  24. I believe this swine flu (known as H1N1, a type A influenza) is actually a composite of swine, bird and human viruses. In 2007, the World Health Organization reported that avian flu (or H5N1, also one of the type A influenzas) can be present in water and sewage and can persist for extended periods of time (e.g., 4 days or more). The report also concluded there can be a risk of infection in areas with untreated water:

    “Nevertheless, it is theoretically possible that transmission of avian influenza could occur in specific local circumstances were a series of factors to coincide. These could include wildfowl and domestic poultry contamination of storages, distribution of water without treatment (including without disinfection); and household use that gave rise to an infectious exposure, possibly through the oral ingestion of contaminated water, or conjunctival inoculation through face washing with contaminated water or contaminated hands.”

    Anon (b0f193)

  25. So what you’re saying is Mexico is dirty. I’m still gathering up a little information about expatriating there – not like it’s a right away thing to do but this might be a good time to buy a spot of land. Everyone says Costa Rica is where you want to go though.

    happyfeet (7b8b6f)

  26. feets, if you can scrape together mid 5-figures, you can do outskirts of Lake Chapala, along with several thousand Canadian / American counterparts. As long as you don’t want to be close to the water.

    carlitos (23eb68)

  27. We could probably buy the good parts of Mexico (Baja plus the oil fields) for a trillion or two.

    Cheap!

    Kevin Murphy (0b2493)

  28. I cannot believe that a adult (see foot in sandal)
    would let a baby do that to a pig!! What an idiot.

    Lee Merrick (9ef7d9)

  29. happyfeet, I believe foreign nationals still cannot own land directly in Mexico. If you’re checking out locales south of the border, take a look at Belize.

    Fort Worth ISD tonight announced all schools closed indefinitely, probably for a week-and-a-half.

    Diffus (1ec39d)

  30. Diffus, you can do a 99-year lease. Unless you’re a Kennedy or Heinz-Kerry, it works out the same, you just can’t will the property to your younguns.

    carlitos (23eb68)

  31. When will the pig flu outbreak occur in NYC? O’Dumbo went to Mexico and then had his plane fly low and slow over the city. Since he hates Americans and America would anyone be surprised if they sprayed the city with flu virus on the crazy flight. He’s that stupid or crazy. He took a bunch of two legged pigs to Mexico (on his plane) to spread the flu around down there.

    Scrapiron (996c34)

  32. Huh?

    JD (6ef9a2)

  33. Scrapiron:

    Take a step back. That’s an alarming post, even if you were joking.

    Ag80 (b19e67)

  34. Gosh, my screenname feels relevant for once.

    My oldest son happened to be on the plane that made an emergency landing in Peru because of a passenger on board with (apparently) the swine flu. No word yet on whether he’s stranded in Peru or back on his way to Argentina.

    Gesundheit (47b0b8)

  35. Good luck to your son, Gesundheit.

    carlitos (23eb68)

  36. Nothing that vile is ever said on lefty sides like DK or Sadly, No. They are paragons of tolerance and moderation.

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (0ea407)

  37. Why is what scrapiron posted crazy. After all it was Bush, Chaney and Rove who personally brought down the twin towers, and done with massive numbers of m-80s carefully placed to blow out heat proof steel beams. This conveniently happening at the correct time after large, fuel filled Boeing airplanes struck the building giving cover to Bush and company to place the charges.

    Zelsdorf Ragshaft III (57cae1)

  38. Fire doesn’t melt steel. Google it.

    carlitos (23eb68)

  39. No strawmen are even constructed on lefty sides like DK or Sadly, No. They are paragons of non-caricatured discussions of opposing points of view.

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (0ea407)

  40. Obama, Jesus. Tomato, Tomahto…

    carlitos (23eb68)

  41. The Farce is strong with this one. He alerts us to strawmen while he builds them and mows them down. It is odd.

    carlitos (23eb68)

  42. Respectfully, this is probably the last direct response you will get from me. I think that you are probably insane, so, in that sense, I suppose I will pray for you. In the future, try to respond to the words on the page, not the imagination in your head.

    carlitos (23eb68)

  43. carlitos,
    In addition to being a staunch Christian, MDM was also a staunch Republican until the Obamessiah came along. Just like this one!

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R., (4566ae)

  44. I can believe that a hippie (see foot in sandal)
    would let a baby do that to a pig!! What an idiot.

    FTFY

    SporkLift Driver (d421be)

  45. I am now nearly certain mdm == lovey.

    John Hitchcock (fb941d)

  46. Yeah, I agree with John at this point in time – same faux outrage, combined with much venting of spleen and quotations from Bible passages. I wonder if we can ask our host (or Karl) to look up the ISP – if it’s the usual sockpuppetry, they’re outta here.

    Dmac (1ddf7e)

  47. BTW Ace of Spades spoofing on Biden’s flu riff is hilarious.

    http://ace.mu.nu/

    Patricia (2183bb)

  48. As far as I can tell, there is no truth to the rumour that Obama’s team has come up with medicine to protect against the swine flu …

    If someone tries to sell you The Oinkment, he (or she) is selling you an equivalent of snake-oil …

    Alasdair (e7cb73)


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