Only extreme reform of the poultry sector and a relocation far from so-called factory farming will end the spread of bird influenza and decrease the “ticking time bomb” danger of it turning into a “serious human pandemic”, a brand-new report by Compassion in World Farming has actually declared.
The campaign group’s report, entitled ‘Bird flu: Only major farm reforms can end it’, declared that – contrary to common belief – wild birds were “typically victims of the disease rather than the cause, and it is spiralling out of control due to the rise of factory farming”.
However, the paper’s claims have actually already come under fire from the poultry sector. The British Poultry Council knocked its assertion that farming was the primary driver of the illness as “irresponsible”.
Citing proof from the global Scientific Task Force on Avian Influenza – which counts the similarity the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization and the Royal Veterinary Collage amongst its members – the report, released today, said a “reassessment” of the nature and sustainability of poultry production systems was now needed.
It argued that depending simply on biosecurity procedures in poultry supply chains “does not tackle the root of the problem”. Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) threats were “high where (poultry) production occurs in high-density settings”, it included, due to the fact that these farms developed “ideal conditions for the spread of disease”.
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These “cramped and stressful systems give viruses a constant supply of new hosts”, the report said. They made it possible for infection to spread out really rapidly amongst birds and had the prospective to progress into brand-new stress at the very same time.
“In such environments, highly harmful strains can rapidly emerge. And these strains can then be carried back outside factory farms, spread to wild birds and back to farms again through, for example, contaminated clothing and equipment.”
The report said such a “spillover” from farmed poultry into wild birds had actually happened on “multiple occasions” because the mid-2000s.
And as an outcome, wild birds were now being captured up in “a cyclical situation where the disease, fuelled by the factory farming system, is spiralling out of control”. The latest and most fatal stress of the infection had actually now adjusted to wild birds – which, up till recent years, had actually seen “little harm” from bird influenza break outs, it included.
This suggested it was “circulating independently in wild populations, with some outbreaks occurring in remote areas with no poultry”, the report declared.
And without action, the illness’s increasing infect other animals might intensify and even leap to people – “creating a real pandemic risk”.
CIWF’s report is prompting federal governments to execute a three-point action strategy, that includes presenting mass vaccination to slow the spread of bird influenza, significantly reorganizing the poultry market by embracing smaller sized flocks with lower equipping densities, preventing clusters of poultry farms and presenting more robust types.
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It likewise required a modification in the method pigs were farmed “as factory farmed pigs can act as ‘mixing vessels’ to create new pig, bird and human viruses”, the group said.
“Bird flu is like a ticking time bomb. Unless we wake up and take urgent action to end factory farming we will simply be unable to stop its rapid spread across the globe or reduce the risk of a serious human pandemic developing,” said report author and CIWF chief policy consultant Peter Stevenson.
“Cramming animals together in factory farms is not only totally inhumane, it’s creating the perfect place for bird flu and other viruses to spread and mutate into more dangerous strains.”
But in reaction, British Poultry Council CEO Richard Griffiths struck out at the report’s claims, firmly insisting bird influenza was reached the UK by migratory birds.
“As a result, it spreads amongst the domestic wild bird population,” he said. ”No bird has bird influenza when it goes on to farm. All events stem from outside the farm through wild bird attack. When illness is discovered, the farm is chosen so illness is not spread out. Therefore, indoor production techniques do not assist in the spread of illness.
“Conflating disease control with your opinion on how we produce food in the UK is an irresponsible way of approaching our primary concern here: ensuring the health of our birds and the sustainability of a world-class food system producing nutritious and affordable food. In these times, that matters more than ever.”
