In its report titled ‘Bird flu: Only major farm reforms can end it’, Compassion in World Farming emphasizes the urgent need for significant changes within the poultry industry to mitigate the risk of a global human pandemic. The organization collaborated with the Scientific Task Force on Avian Influenza to highlight the role of factory farming in the spread of bird flu, with wild birds often being victims rather than the cause.
The report urges governments worldwide to take immediate action by implementing a three-point plan. This plan includes mass vaccination to slow the spread of bird flu, restructuring the poultry industry to adopt smaller flocks and prevent clusters of poultry farms, and transforming pig farming practices to avoid the emergence of new viruses that can affect pigs, birds, and humans. Compassion in World Farming has reached out to the UK, US, and other European governments to encourage the adoption of this comprehensive strategy.
Since 2021, over half a billion farmed birds have been culled or died due to bird flu, along with the deaths of thousands of wild birds. Moreover, there have been 875 registered cases of humans being infected since 2003, highlighting the severity of the issue.
‘Urgent action needed’
Peter Stevenson, the chief policy adviser at Compassion in World Farming and the report’s author, stresses the importance of ending factory farming to halt the rapid spread of bird flu and reduce the risk of a potential human pandemic. Stevenson firmly believes that overcrowding animals in factory farms not only violates ethical standards but also creates the perfect environment for the mutation and spread of viruses such as bird flu, ultimately endangering public health.
Professor Devi Sridhar, chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh, echoes this sentiment, emphasizing that the more opportunities a virus has to jump and mutate within humans, the higher the likelihood of a dangerous strain emerging and triggering the next pandemic.
In July 2023, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), and the World Health Organization (WHO) expressed concern over the increasing number of H5N1 avian influenza detections among mammals. This indicates the potential for the virus to adapt and infect humans more easily.
Commercial poultry flocks ‘not to blame’
Contrary to the report’s findings, Mark Williams, the chief executive of the British Egg Industry Council (BEIC), disputes the claims made regarding the spread of avian influenza (AI). Williams highlights that in Europe, bird flu primarily spreads through infected wild birds returning from their summer breeding grounds, rather than being attributed to commercial poultry flocks. He asserts that regardless of the flock size or production system, strict biosecurity measures remain the key defense against AI.
The BEIC is actively collaborating with the government as a joint-chair of the joint industry/government AI vaccination taskforce to develop a UK-wide AI vaccination strategy. Their focus is on finding a cost-effective vaccination solution against HPAI, while recognizing that biosecurity measures will continue to play a crucial role in combating the threat of AI.
In other news, strikes at Tetley Tea have been averted as employees and management have reached a pay agreement.
