Trade War Pigs

Jesse Walker | April 29, 2009

At least two countries have reacted to the swine flu with trade barriers that won't do anything to stop the spread of swine flu. The Freedom to Trade campaign complains:

Governments don't always act swiftly, but it's taken barely 24 hours for the Russian and Chinese governments to react to the "swine flu" epidemic by blocking trade.

All meat imports into Russia from Mexico and some US states are now banned, while pork from other countries in the region (Guatemala, Honduras, the Dominican Republic, Columbia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Nicaragua, Panama, Salvador) will also be seized at Russian borders.

Meanwhile, imports of pork products from Mexico and parts of the US into China have been banned.

Is this a reasonable response? Not according to the World Health Organization (WHO), which has explicitly stated that the virus cannot be transmitted via well prepared food.

This WHO paper [pdf] makes it very clear that the flu virus dies at 70 degrees Celsius.

Bonus 1970s swine flu nostalgia:

Comments

|4.29.09 @ 10:29AM|#

This is being done to Save Teh Children! Jesse, why do you hate Teh Children?

Brian Sorgatz|4.29.09 @ 11:48AM|#

I've commented this already, but the second swine flu PSA is pornographic.

Brian Sorgatz|4.29.09 @ 11:55AM|#

The verb comment usually doesn't take a direct object, but as Pee-wee Herman said, "I meant to do that."

EJM|4.29.09 @ 2:32PM|#

Bonus 1970s swine flu nostalgia...

I guess nobody has posted the "Carol Burnett Show" sketch involving the side effects of the swine-flu vaccine.

Tim Cavanaugh|4.29.09 @ 2:55PM|#

I think the King of Horror plagiarized that second spot for one of the purple Captain Trips chapters in The Stand.