Pork story a little overcooked?
The new strain of the swine flu virus can finally live up to its name. Pigs on a farm in Alberta, Canada were confirmed on Saturday with the infection. This is the first known case of pigs having the virus.
According to Fox News, a farm worker back from Mexico is the apparent cause. Fox also reported that the farm has been quarantined, no pigs have died and the worker has fully recovered.
Okay, so pigs have finally gotten “their” virus, but what does this mean to the growing worldwide concern besides dumping more fuel into the blazing fire?
Maybe the broadcast channels, radio stations and Internet news providers should be focusing on such facts as the chance of a pig to human transfer of the virus is highly unlikely. Also, whether or not pork is infected, if properly cooked, no risk is posed to humans.
So what does a story blaring a headline that promotes more worry about a virus that shares symptoms with the common flu really have to contribute? Certainly a cause for concern exists with this new virus as it has made its way overseas, but is this story as big a deal as the media make it out to be? Or is this pork story just a little overcooked?
Brittany @ May 4, 2009