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Renowned Public Health Expert and Farm Sanctuary Board Member, Dr. Allan Kornberg, Submits Statement on Public Health and Animal Welfare Implications of the H1N1 (Swine Flu) Outbreak

“The pigs are not to blame for this. In fact, it is the industry that pushes for the ever more expansion of factory farms at all costs that needs to be held accountable for the breeding ground of human as well as animal disease.”

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – May 11, 2009 – Farm Sanctuary, the nation’s leading farm animal protection organization, today released a statement from Dr. Allan Kornberg, a member of the organization’s board of directors. As one of the few public health experts who also retains a deep knowledge of farm animal welfare issues, Dr. Kornberg offers his perspective on the H1N1 (swine flu) outbreak and the health and welfare implications for both humans and farm animals:

“Even though swine flu now is not as deadly as many other illnesses, it is still a public health threat that must be taken seriously, and as such merits a concentrated investigation into its origins. Only by tracing the source of the infection can we hope to prevent future outbreaks (especially those that could prove far more lethal). The most current evidence seems to indicate that the recombinant pig-bird-human strain plaguing the world today germinated on a factory farm — an industrial pig farm in North Carolina (one of the nation’s top pork-producing states), to be exact. …

“The sheer number of animals being raised indoors in close quarters is serious cause for concern from both an animal welfare and public health standpoint. Add to that the immunosuppression that results from stressful overcrowding, unnatural confinement in gestation crates (2-foot-wide metal enclosures that prevent breeding sows from turning around or lying down comfortably) for months at a time, and the filth and feces that accumulates under the animals’ feet, and you have a virtually perfect laboratory for the development of new disease strains.  

“Zoonotic diseases including campylobacter poisoning, acute salmonellosis, E. coli, variant Creutzfeldt- Jakob Disease (the human form of mad cow disease), MRSA and H5N1 (avian influenza) have all been linked directly, or indirectly, to intensive animal agriculture. Swine flu now joins these ranks, and as long as factory farms continue to propagate, this won’t be the last infectious disease to emerge. …

“As many mainstream media reports have stated, the pigs are not to blame for this. In fact, it is the industry that pushes for the ever more expansion of factory farms at all costs that needs to be held accountable for the breeding ground of human as well as animal disease.”

The full article from Dr. Kornberg on H1N1 (Swine Flu) can be found on Farm Sanctuary’s Web site at www.farmsanctuary.org/issues/factoryfarming/health/swine_flu.html

Media interested in interviewing with Dr. Kornberg can contact media@farmsanctuary.org.

Allan E. Kornberg MD is Senior Vice President for the National Initiative for Children’s Health Quality (NICHQ) and a pediatrician with 25 years of clinical and executive experience. Dr. Kornberg’s most recent healthcare post prior to joining NICHQ was as CEO of Network Health, a Medicaid health plan serving the poor in Massachusetts. He has also been Medical Director with Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, the Executive Director and Medical Director for the physician-hospital organization at Scottish Rite Children's Medical Center, and Chief of Emergency Medicine at Buffalo Children's Hospital. Dr. Kornberg is a member of Farm Sanctuary’s Board of Directors, and served as the U.S. Executive Director for the World Society for the Protection of Animals, a global animal welfare charity based in London, UK. 

Farm Sanctuary is the nation's leading farm animal protection organization. Since incorporating in 1986, Farm Sanctuary has worked to expose and stop cruel practices of the "food animal" industry through research and investigations, legal and institutional reforms, public awareness projects, youth education, and direct rescue and refuge efforts. Farm Sanctuary shelters in Watkins Glen, N.Y., and Orland, Calif., provide lifelong care for hundreds of rescued animals, who have become ambassadors for farm animals everywhere by educating visitors about the realities of factory farming. Additional information can be found at www.farmsanctuary.org or by calling 607-583-2225.