It was showtime at the youth swine show, and the pig barn was abuzz with activity.
Andrew Bowman, a molecular epidemiologist at Ohio State University, was touring the barn, taking samples of pig’s tubes. Later, in the lab, Bowman and his colleagues would discover that several of the tubes at this farm in New Lexington, Ohio, harbored influenza.
They have become more prevalent in recent decades, and animal pathogens will continue to spread to human populations for years to come.
Since 2011, there have been more confirmed human cases of swine flu in the United States than anywhere else in the world. Most have been related to exhibitions and agricultural fairs.
Although the flu is usually mild in pigs, animals have been known to give rise to new variants of the flu. In 2009, a variant, which originated in pigs in Mexico, triggered a contagion that killed at least 150,000 people.according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“A lot of people say, ‘Well, it’s just the flu, what’s the problem?’” Bowman said. “If it’s the next pandemic, then it’s really bad.”
For more than a decade, Bowman’s team has been documenting the dangers and looking for ways to make swine shows less risky. What needs to change, Bowman said, “is a lot of human behavior.”
Pigs can be infected with swine, bird and human flu viruses simultaneouslyserving as receptacles in which different genetic material can mix, producing new versions of the virus.
After the 2009 pandemic, Bowman and one of his former professors at Ohio State began taking samples from pigs at swine shows. They found that every spring, major regional and national shows — which attract serious competitors — bring together pigs from farms from all corners, causing new strains of the flu to spread across the United States.
In the summer and fall, much larger numbers of children bring their pigs to state or county fairs. At about 25 percent of fairs, at least one pig tests positive for the flu, which tends to spread widely. “By the end of the show you have 200 pigs spreading the influenza virus,” Bowman said.
Fairs also bring large crowds of people into close contact with pigs. “You have children petting and touching the pigs and, at the same time, eating cotton candy, hot dogs and sandwiches,” said Ann Linder, of the animal law and policy program at Harvard Law School.
Contagion is common. In 2012, a large outbreak of swine flu caused more than 300 confirmed human cases; Bowman and his colleagues found evidence that the virus had passed from pigs to people at at least seven Ohio fairs.
They also documented the risks with the standard weighing procedure. During that process, many pigs would press their noses against the vertical panels used to hold the animals in place, and an infected pig could contaminate the common surface. “That results in accelerated transmission,” Bowman said.
The researchers, who shared their findings with exhibit organizers and health officials, say they have seen some changes, with many exhibits moving away from the standard weigh-in procedure.
Not all exhibitions have been receptive to major changes. So Ohio State researchers developed a program in 2015 to teach young exhibitors how to keep themselves and their pigs healthy. Researchers have become fixtures at swine shows across the United States.
“They gave us great advice and great ideas,” said Lindsey Caldwell, of Leesburg, Ohio, whose two daughters exhibit pigs. For example, they advised that after returning from a show, the family should change or disinfect their shoes and quarantine any pigs that had attended.
“I think we have moved the needle,” Bowman said. “A change is taking place.”
By: EMILY ANTHES
The New York Times
BBC-NEWS-SRC: http://www.nytsyn.com/subscribed/stories/6827631, IMPORTING DATE: 2023-07-31 19:20:06
#Field #fairs #largest #focus #swine #bird #flu #spread