According to a May 8, 2009 article published on Natural Foods Merchandiser's website (Natural Foods Merchandiser is the leading natural products industry publication) there is a link between the modern factory farming methods for pigs and the Swine Flu outbreak. The story states:
"Mounting evidence suggests that the recent outbreak of swine flu, or the H1N1 virus, may have begun as a result of massive-scale farming practices.
"In the community known as La Gloria in Perote, Mexico, 1,800 of the village's 3,000 residents—or 60 percent—came down with an upper-respiratory infection in a period of six weeks, beginning in February. Among those residents was 5-year-old Edgar Hernandez. He later was identified as the first known person to positively test for H1N1.
"Tom Philpott, a journalist for the environmental website Grist, reported that health officials immediately correlated the outbreak of illness with the presence of a massive industrial hog farm in Perote, partly owned by Smithfield Foods, the largest pork producer in the world."
Mark Fergusson