PIG FARMERS ASSOCIATION REPRESENTED BY ITS SECRETARY S RAJAGOPAL Vs. CHIEF SECRETARY GOVERNMENT OF TAMIL NADU SECRETARIAT FORT ST GEORGE CHENNAI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) WHETHER at the instance of the petitioner Association can the State be directed to create awareness by publishing in the Media (Electronic) and newspapers that A(H1N1) Influenza is caused by the virus transmitted from human to human and not by Pigs and the common name Swine Flu cannot be attributed to Pigs kept by the members of the petitioner association in their Pigsties for selling them as Pork, can be countenanced by this Court?

(2.) THE petitioner is an Association of Pig Farmers Association formed in the year 2009 and claims to have around 60 members. THEre are more than 500 others are rearing White Pigs in the Pigsties run by them. THE Pigs are reared in a scientific manner. THEy are also getting expert advice from the authorities. However, due to spread of Influenza A(H1N1) virus in the Country, a general scare has been created that it is spread through Pigs, which indirectly leads to an unnecessary scare among general public in some villages. People have convened meetings and asked owners to shut down their Pigsties. This led to the fall of their income and also completely ruining their business. THErefore, they wanted the State to make adequate publicities through media including newspapers to disabuse the minds of public regarding the real cause of Influenza and the nature of their transmission, so that unnecessary scare can be quelled and people will be allowed to eat pork without any inhibition.

(3.) IT is not clear as to how such a writ petition is maintainable at the instance of the private interest group to seek for such a direction. IT is no doubt true that Influenza A(H1N1) otherwise known as Swine Flu, is generally believed to be spread through Pigs. Swine influenza (also called swine flu or pig flu) is an infection by any one of several types of swine influenza virus. Swine influenza virus (SIV) is any strain of the influenza family of viruses that is endemic in pigs. As of 2009, the known SIV strains include influenza C and the subtypes of influenza A known as H1N1, H1N2, H3N1, H3N2 and H2N3. Swine influenza virus is common throughout pig populations worldwide. Transmission of the virus from pigs to humans is not common and does not always lead to human influenza, often resulting only in the production of antibodies in the blood. If transmission does cause human influenza, it is called zoonotic swine flu. People with regular exposure to pigs are at increased risk of swine flu infection. The meat of an infected animal poses no risk of infection when properly cooked. Pigs experimentally infected with the strain of swine flu that is causing the current human pandemic showed clinical signs of flu within four days, and the virus spread to other uninfected pigs housed with the infected ones.