Swine Flu Infects Pigs in Canada

The swine flu has reared itself in swine in Canada:

Herd of pigs in central Alberta come down with swine flu

Edmonton Sun – May 2, 2009 excerpt…

By CLARA HO

A pig herd in central Alberta has been infected with the swine flu virus in what could potentially be the first human-to-animal virus transmission case, provincial officials confirmed this afternoon.

The 2,200 animals were exposed to the virus by a farm worker exhibiting flu-like symptoms after returning from Mexico.

The office of the chief provincial veterinarian was notified Tuesday that some of the farm’s pigs showed flu-like symptoms after the worker, who came home on April 12, exposed the pigs to the virus when he returned to work two days later.

The farm was immediately placed under quarantine and samples were taken and sent to the National Centre for Foreign Diseases in Winnipeg to be analyzed. A bulletin was also sent out to the province’s pork industry workers.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is now leading the investigation with the help of Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development.

The pigs, the farm worker, and the family living on and running the farm have since recovered or are recovering, said agriculture Minister George Groeneveld. There have been no other reports of swine flu viruses in pigs and the flu has been confined to this particular operation, he added…

Dr. Gerald Hauer, chief provincial veterinarian, said that swine flu is known to occur in pigs in the province, particularly a common everyday strain of the swine flu virus. But this is the first time they were made aware of a swine flu strain that could be transferred from humans to animals.

Biosecurity measures such as limiting visitors to pig farm operations and ensuring workers shower before and after entering pig farms, are in place to prevent other similar incidents, Hauer said.

He noted that the flu virus is a “notifiable” disease, meaning within 24 hours of noticing or suspecting signs of the swine flu, incidents must be reported to the chief veterinarian’s office.

Corriveau, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, said from a human perspective, a possible human-to-animal transmission of the virus gives no reason to panic. He added that people should continue to take precautionary measures to prevent spreading disease.

Alberta Health and Wellness also confirmed that Elsewhere in Alberta, two new cases have been recorded in northern Alberta and one in Calgary, bringing the provincial total to 15.

None of the patients have required hospitalization. http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Edmonton/2009/05/02/9327636.html

While I am not yet convinced that the “swine flu” is as bad as the worst case scenarios that the mainstream media sometimes have hyped, the above did catch my attention.

But relatively soon, serious pestilences are prophesied as we are prophetically at/near the point Jesus called “the beginning of sorrows”–which includes pestilences (Matthew 24:7-8).

Some articles of possibly related interest may include:

Can the Great Tribulation Begin in 2009, 2010, or 2011? Can the Great Tribulation begin today? What is the “beginning of sorrows”? When is the earliest that the Great Tribulation can begin? What is the Day of the Lord?
The New Testament Church and Unclean Meats Are foods considered to have been unclean in the Old Testament considered to be food in the New Testament? This article discusses this from the perspective of the New Testament. It also has a list of clean and unclean animals. It also answers the question, is pork healthy or is pork dangerous?
Anglo – America in Prophecy & the Lost Tribes of Israel Are the Americans, Canadians, British, Scottish, Welsh, Australians, Anglo-Southern Africans, and New Zealanders descendants of Joseph? Where are the lost ten-tribes of Israel? Who are the lost tribes of Israel? Will God punish the U.S.A., Canada, United Kingdom, and other Anglo nations? Why might God allow them to be punished first?
Mexico, Central America, South America, and Brazil in Prophecy [Español: México, America Central, Suramérica, y el Brasil en profecíal] [Português: México, América Central, Ámérica do Sul, e Brasil na profecia] What will happen to those of Latin America? Will they have prosperity? Will they cooperate with Europe? Will they suffer in the future? What rule might the various Caribbean nations/territories play?