It’s worth nothing that the strain making all the headlines isn’t properly called swine flu, but is in fact a “reassortment” of human and swine flu strains designated H1N1.  These types of reassortant and recombinant strains of flu virus are an increased risk with “confined animal feeding operations,” or CAFOs, which most people know as “factory farms.”

Last year, the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production published a report on CAFOs which contains this little gem:

The continual cycling of swine influenza viruses and other animal pathogens in large herds or flocks provides increased opportunity for the generation of novel viruses through mutation or recombinant events that could result in more efficient human-to-human transmission of these viruses. In addition, agricultural workers serve as a bridging population between their communities and the animals in large confinement facilities. This bridging increases the risk of novel virus generation in that human viruses may enter the herds or flocks and adapt to the animals.

Reassortant influenza viruses with human components have ravaged the modern swine industry. Such novel viruses not only put the workers and animals at risk of infections, but also potentially increase zoonotic disease transmission risk to the communities where the workers live. For instance, 64% of 63 persons exposed to humans infected with H7N7 avian influenza virus had serological evidence of H7N7 infection following the 2003 Netherlands avian influenza outbreak in poultry. Similarly, the spouses of swine workers who had no direct contact with pigs had increased odds of antibodies against swine influenza virus. Recent modeling work has shown that among communities where a large number of CAFO workers live, there is great potential for these workers to accelerate pandemic influenza virus transmission.

Pew Commission researchers met with counterparts from the University of Iowa where were studying avian flu, and their discussions created a concern about a nightmare scenario of an avian-swine-human superflu that could be a repeat of the 1918 flu pandemic, believed by some to be an avian-swine flu spread worldwide by farm workers traveling to WWI training camps.

Mexican Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova said on Monday that they have identified what they believe was the earliest known case of this current outbreak.  The 4-year-old boy was from the village of La Gloria, Veracruz – not far from the Granjas Carroll de Mexico plant, co-owned by Smithfield Foods.  The local community had been protesting pollution at the plant when the child contracted the virus.  Local citizens believe they were being made sick by air and water contamination from pig waste, following widespread outbreak of a “particularly powerful respiratory disease” in early April, according to the Associated Press.

The Mexican government is currently testing hogs from Smithfield’s farms throughout Mexico, and Smithfield and Granjas Carroll have agreed to adopt government recommendations to “begin reinforcing its biosecurity measures to prevent workers and animals from being infected,” according to Mexican newspaper Reforma - which is also reporting that people in La Gloria have been threatened, harassed and even arrested for demonstrating against the huge company.

David Kirby at Huffington Post has more, here and here.

Vice President Joe Biden said recently;

“Since the beginning of last year, there have been nearly 7,000 drug-related murders in Mexico. If we had said that years ago, we would have looked at each other like we were crazy.  Violent drug trafficking organizations are threatening both the United States and Mexican communities.”

While the Mexican government has been deploying thousands of troops to border towns like Ciudad Juarez, U.S. governors in border states are becoming increasingly concerned, including Texas governor Rick Perry who recently made an “urgent call” for 1,000 additional National Guard troops to be deployed to his state to assist with securing the border.

President Barack Obama said recently that several states have requested additional deployments, although according to a Pentagon spokesperson they have not yet been ordered to move any troops to the border.  The president has said he has no interest in “militarizing the border,” and there has been no discussion of sending U.S. troops into Mexico.  However, the Mexican government currently has 5 helicopers, a Marine surveillance vehicle and handheld scanners on loan from the U.S.

Obama and Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, met earlier this month in anticipation of Mullen’s recent trip to Mexico.  The White House is eager to assist in stablizing the region, and has been mobilizing all resources to address the problem.  Secretary of State Clinton will be in Mexico later this month.  A House subcommittee is expected to question Department of Homeland Security officials in an attempt to address potential dangers to our citizens at home in upcoming hearings.

Mexican government officials share their own concerns about their neighbor in all this – turns out, the majority of the weapons being used in attacks in Mexico have been of U.S. origin.  Juarez Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz told CNN that two .50-caliber rifles were confiscated during a recent raid, both of which were purchased via the Internet, from the U.S., citing an example of the easily availability of heavy military-grade firearms to those with the cash.  Mexican officials are increasing pressure on the U.S. to clamp down on the flow of firearms across the border.

Despite a recent U.S. State Department travel alert which compared the fighting between the cartels and local authorities to “small-unit combat,” Mexico’s tourism chief reports no decrease in tourism as a result of the increased killings.  According to him, Mexico is perfectly safe as long as you avoid the “zones that are not safe.”  Well, now I feel better.

It’s easy to get bogged down in the details, and the numbers.  Safe zones and unsafe zones, so many deaths, so many soldiers, so much cash – Forbes added Joaquin Guzman Loera, the head of the Sinaloa drug cartel, to their billionaire’s list this year, “self-made” in the “shipping” industry.  Our continuation of the failed War on Drugs is no small part of this mess, and by now it should be clear we have no option other than to legitimize and marginalize the drug cartels if we are ever to restore peace to the border towns of either country.