President and chief executive officer of Smithfield Foods, Larry Pope, has written to all its employees following rumours that the H1N1 influenza outbreak can be linked back to one of its partner’s farms.

He writes: “Like you, I have been closely monitoring all aspects of the H1N1 influenza outbreak (this is the official name of the misnamed but widely quoted "swine flu" since it has been determined by health officials throughout the world that the illness is a mutation of a number of strains). Unfortunately, the media and bloggers have jumped to conclusions based more on fear than fact and have sensationalised a serious illness.

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