Gigi Berardi reads about advertising and its effects in FoodWISE. Grim report on tourism: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-53402983 And here, a quite wonderful precis of news related to the health and safety of workers in meat processing, and “factory farming,” in general. Look up the authors and titles, and subscribe. Animals farmed: China swine flu fears, Nigeria pig cull and permits for mega-dairy. [please Google titles, authors, and subscribe to the newspaper] Welcome to our monthly roundup of the biggest issues in farming and food production, with must-read reports from around the web A protester wears a pig mask during a protest outside a meat plant in Rheda-Wiedenbrück, Germany. Photograph: Alexander Koerner/Getty Tom Levitt News from around the world Outbreaks of African swine fever (ASF) are surging in China following flooding in southern parts of the country. Farmers typically bury infected pigs, and the rains may have spread the disease via groundwater, analysts told Reuters. Experts have said the spread of the highly contagious virus, which is fatal to pigs, is unrelenting, with 200 million or more pigs thought to have been culled, slaughtered early or lost to the disease in China. There are renewed fears about the threat of future disease outbreaks after a strain of swine flu prevalent in China was found to have the potential to spread to humans. A study found that 10% of pig farm workers tested had developed antibodies against a new type of swine flu named G4, suggesting it could jump from pigs to humans. China’s ministry of agriculture and rural affairs said in a statement that the study’s sampling was too small to be representative, and that it lacked adequate evidence to show the G4 virus has become the dominant strain among pigs. There is no evidence yet of human-to-human transmission. Chinese officials have also announced plans to phase out the slaughter and sale of live poultry at food markets in the country. China introduced a temporary ban on the trade of wild animals and sales in markets earlier this year after the Covid-19 outbreak. UN officials have said there should be a global ban on wildlife or “wet markets” that sell live and dead animals to prevent future pandemics. But others argue that wet markets are being targeted unfairly. Germany has vowed to help push for better enforcement of EU protections for migrant workers after Covid-19 outbreaks in German meat plants exposed “exploitative conditions” for workers. Meanwhile, China suspended almost all imports of pork from the Netherlands over Covid-19 outbreaks at meat plants in the country. The trade was worth more than €300m (£270m) in 2019. Exports to China from the UK’s largest pork processor Tulip have also been voluntarily suspended by the company after cases of Covid-19 at its Tipton plant in the West Midlands – and likewise exports to China from a beef plant in Brazil. ….. The majority of Covid-19 cases in US meat plants have been among ethnic minority workers, according to a new study. Photograph: Tyson Foods Inc/Youtube The majority of Covid-19 cases in US meat plants have been among black and ethnic minority workers, according to a new analysis from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Of the 9,919 Covid-19 cases in meat and poultry plants where race and ethnicity information were reported in April and May, 87% involved minorities. The news comes as a major meat producer, Tyson Foods, was urged by more than 120 consumer and worker rights groups to take more action to protect its workers from Covid-19, including not laying off staff who are afraid to go back to work because of unsafe working conditions. Tyson has said workers who have symptoms of the virus or have tested positive will be paid while not working.