Swine flu swept across the world in less than one month, with confirmed cases cropping up in 65 countries within just 30 days. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has confirmed 15,510 cases and 99 deaths, 77 of these in Mexico.

The world reacted with panic to the latest flu epidemic, human-to-human transmission cases have been recorded in multiple regions. Surgical masks flew off the shelves, while governments launched massive public health campaigns, such as the UK's “Catch it. Bin it. Kill it.” campaign.

“Ground zero” for swine flu has been traced back to La Gloria, a small town of around 3000 people in the eastern state of Veracruz, Mexico. Twelve miles out of town is a vast intensive pig “facility” operated by Granjas Carroll, a subsidiary of the world's biggest pork producer, Smithfield. Both Smithfield and the Mexican government rapidly denied any causal links. Yet 60 per cent of the town's population was ill in March with flu-like symptoms and one of the world's first confirmed cases was from this town.

We live in a globalised economy - the current synchronised economic crisis is proof of that. In this age of global trade and travel, the swine flu outbreak has proven itself a global illness. Within 24 hours of each other, two young bos were diagnosed with swine flu - a third-grader from Ohio and a five-year old from La Gloria - living 1700 miles apart. The movement of goods and labour across the globe, the drive to urbanisation and the increasingly concentrated methods of food production have all played a part in the disease's spread.

Factory farming, which has grown enormously over the last few decades is a direct result of capitalism's drive to competition, where the small farms get driven out of business because they cannot compete in price with the big multinationals. In 1965 there were more than a million farms raising 53 million hogs. There are only 65,000 facilities that rear an enormous 65 million hogs today.

Factory farmed pigs, whose immune systems are suppressed by the stress of crowding and fast feeding, are perfect disease incubators for airborne flu. They are fed a steady diet of drugs to keep them alive in these unsanitary, stressful conditions, which increases the chance that drug-resistant superbugs will develop.

It is not surprising that most of the deaths happened Mexico and the US, both countries with poor healthcare provision, especially for the less well off. Many deaths could have been avoided if proper medical attention was given at the onset of the virus but, due to their poverty, many people cannot afford to visit clinics or hospitals, causing the disease to spread further.

By subordinating food production and medicine to the market, capitalism puts millions in danger.

Medicine and private profit
Multinational pharmaceutical companies are making a killing from the sale of anti flu tablets like Tamiflu.

Supplies to some countries are at risk because rich people are buying up the tablets on the private market. There is a danger that new resistant strains of flu could emerge because people are taking the tablets even when they don't have the illness.

Research into new cures is hampered because the rival companies do not share information and discoveries with their competitors.

People must be put firmly before profit. All drug companies should be nationalised and business secrecy should be abolished. The private market in vital drugs should be suppressed and masses of the necessary medicines should be made available to health services to be distributed immediately in case of need.

Poor countries should be gifted all necessary quantities of the medicines.

Companies should be forced to make their research public so that new discoveries can be made with the maximum speed in a true global collaboration.