AR-News: (US-de) Animals to blame for spread of humans' most deadly diseases

[Animalconcerns]

They are in pigs, ducks, sheep, cows, horses and birds.

And they're in your cat, lazily curled on the part of the sofa where you
sometimes lay your head; and in your dog, who joyfully slobbers hello when
you come into the house.

Viruses. Parasites. Bacteria. Fungi.

Jumping from animals to people over time and through various guises,
animal-originated germs and organisms have helped create the diseases that
have caused the most human deaths in history. Blame cattle, pigs, insects
and birds for measles, tuberculosis, bubonic plague, smallpox, influenza,
whooping cough, cholera and malaria.

Previously undiagnosed diseases have proliferated in recent years because
of rapid global travel and the worldwide shipping of food; imported exotic
pets that carry diseases previously unknown to certain areas; growing
populations encroaching on formerly pristine areas; and the development of
the scientific and technological ability to identify the diseases. 
...
Add to that the centralized nature of animal processing plants and poor
conditions on some poultry farms, and you have the potential for a
disaster to spread as rapidly as possible, said Bruce Friedrich, a
spokesman for PETA, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an
animal-rights group.

"We cram chickens together," he said. "A shed with 20,000 birds, and each
bird with less space than a standard piece of paper, cooped up in their
own feces and urine in badly ventilated sheds. It's a wonder that things
aren't significantly worse." 
...
Reach Victor Greto at 324-2832 or vgreto at delawareonline.com.

full story:
http://www.delawareonline.com/newsjournal/local/2004/02/16animalstoblamef.html

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