Exclusive: Mexican Pig Farm Smithfield Foods, Inc, Suspected Of Starting H1N1 Virus, Gets Death Threats

In the midst of one of the worse pandemics in history, Smithfield Foods Inc. is struggling to distance its pig farms from the so-called swine flu, now being called the H1N1 virus. Located near La Gloria, Veracruz in Perote where the first case of the flu emerged, Smithfield Foods Inc. , a joint venture co-owned by the American food company Smithfield and the Mexican company AMSA (Agroindustrias Unidas de Mexico), has been accused by members of the community of La Gloria of causing the high profile disease.

Guanabee spoke to La Gloria spokesperson Eli Ferrer Cortés who disclosed that his community has advocated for years to the government of the state of Veracruz the shutting down of Smithfield Foods, Inc. for malpractices that include disposing inappropriately of organic and fecal matter that has contaminated the water and the air. Ferrer mentioned that “there has been registered an intolerable stench in the air, a disagreeable smell in the water, plus a high population of flies that follow the company’s disposal of swine matter.” They have asked the Environmental and Natural Resource agency (Semarnat) and the Environmental Protection Agency (Profepa) to look into the accusations but they claim that the state has not paid any attention to them and that the community is being hushed by Smithfield Foods, Inc. personnel.

Guanabee spoke with Jazmín Jiménez, an assistant in the communications division of the company, who revealed that since the flu outbreak, the company is running business as usual. She also claimed that none of the employees of the company have been infected and none have stopped coming to work. We asked her if Smithfield Foods, Inc. is taking any measures to prevent spreading of the virus and she responded that everybody there is insured by el Seguro Social (Mexican Medicare) so there was no need to take those precautions. When asked what the response of the community has been, Ms. Jimenez disclosed that the company has received over 1,500 e-mails–an average of 50 a day–that contain threats against the staff, threats to close the company, and even death threats. One of them, forwarded to us, reads:

Hijo de tu puta madre, eres el cusante (sic) de la epidemia, de igual manera te va a cargar la chingada,
Atte
Los Zetas
Plaza Edo. de Mex. y D.F.

(Translation:
You son of a ——- —–, you caused the pandemic, either way you are going to die.

Attentively,
Los Zetas
Plaza Edo. de Mex y D.F.)

Guanabee also talked to Giovanna Mejia, a consultant for Zimat the crisis management company hired by Smithfield Foods, Inc. to deal with the accusations from the community and the barrage of media questions coming in from all over the world. Ms. Mejia says the company is taking necessary measures to answer all questions and allegations and further announced that “the flu that we have been referring to as the swine flu is now being called the human flu since no direct correlation between swine and humans has been found.”

This flu is a new strain of influenza that derives from one strain of human influenza, one strain of avian influenza, and two separate strains of swine influenza. On April 30, 2009 the World Health Organization began referring to the outbreak as “Influenza A (H1N1)” instead of “swine flu.” The origins of this new strain are unknown, and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) reports that this strain has not been isolated in swine. We know that it passes with apparent ease from human to human, an ability attributed to an as-yet unidentified mutation.

So is Smithfield Foods, Inc.– a company with a history of health and food violations– responsible for this worldwide outbreak? We can’t say with certainty just yet. But Centers for Disease Control chief virologist, Ruben Donis did remark to New Scientist that, “The only suspicious thing in that story is this is the largest farm in Mexico. The fact that the index case [patient zero] also is from the area makes it interesting.”

Granjas Carrol Website
Smithfield Website