Some have linked the new strain of H1N1 to an industrial hog farm in Mexico

有人認為豬流感H1N1病毒的新變體與墨西哥一個工業化生豬養殖農場有關。
 
Can Swine Flu Be Blamed on Industrial Farming?

Amidst the hubbub surrounding the current pandemic threat from swine flu, an epidemiological mystery has been unfolding. Authorities have designated Edgar Hernandez, a five-year-old from La Gloria in the Mexican state of Veracruz as "Patient Zero"—at least he is the earliest case they have found so far. Virologists have determined that the mutating flu is a combination of several older flu strains, commonly associated with pigs. And La Gloria is home to nearly a million pigs on a nearby factory farm.

So is so-called swine flu really just another environmental problem associated with factory farming?

After all, such large operations keep the animals in close confinement, dope them with antibiotics to keep them alive in the crowded conditions and create vast pools and piles of waste—all good ways to promote the spread of any disease.
Other health threats, such as antibiotic-resistant strains of staphylococcus aureus, have emerged from pig farms as well.
Nevertheless, this H1N1 strain has not yet been found in the pigs near La Gloria, nor is it clear how it would have jumped from the factory farm to little Edgar.

But what is clear thanks to the hard work of virologists is that this particular strain of flu got its genetic start on U.S. hog farms back in the 1990s. That's according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. How the virus jumped from pigs to humans may have nothing to do with factory farms, but confined animal feeding operations helped to breed the disease.

豬流感能歸咎于工業化養殖么？

目前豬流感大規模流行的威脅導致一片混亂，在這之中，一個有關流行病的秘密正在被解開。官方機構已經指明一名來自墨西哥Veracruz州La Gloria地區的名為Edgar Hernandez的5歲孩子是“首個豬流感病例”---至少到目前為止Edgar Hernandez是他們發現的最早病例。病毒學家已經測定，正在變異的流感病毒是幾種通常與豬有關的老流感病毒的結合體。而在La Gloria地區，一個有近1百萬頭生豬的養殖場就在附近。

那么是不是所謂的豬流感真的僅僅不過是又一個與養殖場有關的環境問題呢？

畢竟，這樣大規模的養殖使得豬被關在狹小的空間里面，養殖者對它們還注射抗生素，以便使它們能在擁擠不堪和大量污穢的環境中存活下來。這些糟糕的環境為疾病的傳播提供了絕佳的溫床。

其它的一些健康威脅也已經在生豬養殖農場中顯出苗頭，比如具有耐抗性的金黃色葡萄球菌病毒的出現。
 
不過，這種H1N1病毒還沒有在La Gloria附近的生豬養殖場中發現，目前也不清楚H1N1病毒是如何從養殖場傳到小Edgar身上的。
不過，因為病毒學家們的不懈努力，有一點是清楚的：根據美國疾病控制中心（U.S. Centers for Disease Control）的報道，在上個世紀90年代H1N1流感病毒在美國的生豬農場中就出現了。也許這種病毒如何從豬身上傳到人身上與農場養殖一點兒關系也沒有，但是密集的動物飼養模式是有助于疾病繁殖的。

Vocabulary:

Strain：(疾病的)類型
Hog：豬
Swine Flu：豬流感
Amidst：在…之中
Hubbub：混亂；喧鬧
Pandemic：大規模流行病
Epidemiological：流行病學的
Designate：指明；指派
Virologist：病毒學家
Determine：確定
Mutate:變異
Confinement: 局限
Dope: 用藥
Antibiotics: 抗生素
Vast: 大量的
Resistant: 抵抗的
Staphylococcus aureus: 金黃色葡萄球菌
Genetic: 基因的
Breed: 孕育；導致；繁殖