Swine Flu kills dozens in Mexico, some in U.S. sickened

[kevyn]

If you haven't heard, just go to Drudge's front page, he's shrieking it like a stuck swine.

A less hysterical AP story says something that is unsettling:

> The worrisome new virus _ which combines genetic material from
> pigs, birds and humans in a way researchers have not seen before
> _ also sickened at least eight people in Texas and California,
> though there have been no deaths in the U.S.

That sounds suspiciously engineered. Pigs, Bird and Human genetic material all in one virus? I suppose it could be naturally occurring, but I have to wonder... could this be a man-made plague?

Shit. It actually could.

Comments

[bestbear-icanbe.livejournal.com]

Pigs, Bird and Human genetic material all in one virus? I suppose it could be naturally occurring, but I have to wonder... could this be a man-made plague?

Either that, or the result of a very disturbing orgy.

[bigmacbear]

I read an explanation of this -- I don't recall whether it was in The Straight Dope or Uncle John's Bathroom Reader, my usual sources for such trivia -- that said that most new flu strains originate in China, where farmers live in closer proximity to their pigs and ducks than would be considered sanitary in the US. Influenza being an airborne virus rather than an STD, no orgy is required.

[bestbear-icanbe.livejournal.com]

no orgy is required

Oh, you're no fun!