SWINE FLU OVERREACTION [UPDATED]
(Posted 2009-04-29 14:24:15 by ArchPaladin)

In an unrelated story [
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8024611.stm ] [bbc.co.uk] about
swine flu, the reporter dropped the news that in an effort to curb the
disease, Egypt has begun slaughtering all 300,000 pigs in its country.

Except there are no reported cases of swine flu in Egypt.

Perhaps we could spin this to be some form of mass-animal sacrifice to the
swine gods, rather than just leaving it as a completely overreactionary
measure to prevent a non-local disease.


Update: I just found out something interesting.  It appears that in Egypt
there is a branch of Christianity called Coptic Christianity.  This branch
is in the minority in Egypt and suffers considerable persecution there. 
One of the larger vocations for these people is the raising of pigs, which
Muslim Egyptians consider to be unclean.  Mass slaughtering of pigs cuts
jeopardizes the Coptics' livelihood.

So the public-facing reason for the pig slaughtering is swine flu, but
there may be an ulterior motive of persecution.

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