The spread of bird flu evokes disparate emotions, confusion and a collective desire to bury our heads in the sand as dark shadows of Covid are not far from our minds.
The average citizen, as well as the media, has more questions than answers as we seek to follow the right trail of bread crumbs in order to keep everyone safe from possible infection, illness and death. And find eggs at a decent price.
What’s critical right now, is knowing that experts tell us we are in a high-risk window these next few weeks for the spread of bird flu. This is due to extremely strange weather (did you notice there was an actual blizzard in New Orleans?), forcing wild birds to actively push back in migration patterns. Bird flu, also called H5N1 virus, is not yet slowing down as it might in normal circumstances.
What’s equally important to realize is that bird flu is not just one cause for worry, but brings us a broader cautionary tale of public health, and the need for immediate public health information for our own safety, for farm animal welfare, pet care vigilance, and basic farm-to-home economics based on supply and demand. And guess what? There is actually a cure with the proper vaccinations. Whether farmers ever get to use it, is another issue.
The bird flu virus is tied to a wild bird infection that has spilled over to our poultry. Every day, and I mean right now, upwards of 3 million birds at poultry farms nationwide are being killed by APHIS, the regulatory arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. APHIS stands for Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and its main job is to address animal health and welfare, and less known is its role to protect global trade, which is important to note for reasons I will explain in a minute.
Bird flu also spills over to mammals, and not just wild mammals, but to dairy cows. Apparently, cow udders are strong receptors for the highly contagious infection, which finds a home swimming in raw milk. This is why bird flu places dairy farm workers in Colorado at high risk of infection. Conjunctivitis, or pink eye, remains the main symptom of possible infection from a strain of bird flu. This comes from working close every day to raw milk. Which is why workers on dairy farms wear dark sunglasses.
Bird flu is an ever-growing danger to humans, as we saw the first death in Louisiana from a person who became ill after contact with backyard poultry and wild birds.
Last week it was confirmed our pets, namely cats, are at risk, if they ever eat raw pet food such as duck, turkey or chicken containing the virus from wild birds. Or if they skip the can and eat the wild birds. On Jan. 15, the American Veterinary Medical Association reported Avian influenza has been infecting all cats, be they indoor pets, feral cats, or even big cats in zoos and in the wild. Signs before death include heavy discharge from the eyes and nose, respiratory and neurological distress.
There is one more thread that has been woven throughout the main narrative of the spread of bird flu, which is the high price of eggs. When you are killing millions of birds every day, without changing the demand for eggs as a staple, you are removing the supply from the ecosystem, and hence, the price goes up. It is simple, not all that complicated.
Some folks in Colorado are out there chirping away that if only the pesky animal welfare lot would get on board with factory farming and tight enclosures without room to move, that would drive down egg prices.
Referring to a state law passed in 2020 which went into affect this January first requiring that all eggs sold in Colorado’s grocery stores by producers with over 3,000 egg-laying chickens also know to many as factories – must be “cage-free”. It already has opponents arguing that this is why egg prices are climbing, therefore the rule should already be overturned. Any such debate should at least be tabled until the impacts of the avian flu are fully known and addressed. It’s good news that the recently proposed Colorado House Bill 1074 attempt to repeal the cage-free egg law failed on a 8-5 vote in committee. The time is not ripe for any further legislative action this session.
Former USDA infectious disease and senior veterinarian researcher for livestock and zoonotic diseases Dr. Jim Keen, works as a senior veterinarian with the Center for a Humane Economy and reports that other countries are using a bird flu vaccine successfully in poultry and that if we vaccinate the poulets (the young birds) today, separated from the flock, we can have virus-free poultry and cheaper eggs sooner than later. So why are we not doing this?
If you ask some of the most expert people, and I did, you find out that our government is worried that if we vaccinate broiler hens, which make up a hefty billions in exports, there are some countries that will cease to buy them for their own export rules and regulations. Which means that global trade, not public health or the health of our local farmers, is actually driving the daily killing of poultry and hence, the price of our eggs.
Don’t forget, the way these birds are killed is not pretty. And it’s unnecessary because if we vaccinated the chickens, we would have a path forward. Right now. No need to wait for our white coat laboratory experts to recreate the medicine or the wheel, so to speak.
It’s also concerning that in the middle of this endemic — an endemic is basically an epidemic that is not ever going away — this is not the time to clamp down on public information, when we need it the most.
For instance, how many of us realize not to give our cats raw food, to stop drinking raw milk, or that we should be lobbying for the government to use a proven vaccine?
There’s your trail of bread crumbs to follow, and avoid the shiny pennies of distraction. We simply cannot continue to kill our way out of this one, but we can vaccinate our way out of it. We just need to pressure those turkeys running our government to finally make it happen.
Jim Martin is a former University of Colorado regent and can be reached at jimmartinesq@gmail.com.
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