I have been covering the bird flu (aka Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza/HPAI) since 2022. Over that time, over 150 million birds have been culled in an effort to “slow the spread”.
How has that worked out? The current numbers suggest…not well.
Over December and January, owners of commercial, backyard, and hobbyist chicken flocks had to cull 41.4 million birds because of influenza exposure—three times more than the same period last year. The past two months are the most destructive stretch of the North American outbreak, which initially arrived three years ago via migrating wild birds from Europe.
Perhaps another approach would be better? For example, allowing the birds to be exposed and infected. The survivors could then be bred to create a more flu-resistant generation.
The constant culling is not allowing our domestic flocks to develop resistance to this flu, and may make them even more susceptible to other diseases because they are not allowed to build up their immunity.
And while our media worries about the mental health and livelihood of federal workers, where is the concern about the poultry farmers? Culling has the potential to create severe psychological effects on farmers.
At the beginning of the worst outbreak of bird flu, 3.2 million birds were culled between October 2021 and September 2022.
One of those farmers affected in 2021 was Lucy Sanderson, from North Yorkshire, who says people are not aware of the mental health impact culling birds had on farmers.
“As well as losing my job, my income, my everyday life, I also ruined my staff’s lives as I had to make them redundant. The knock-on effect was huge.
Furthermore, the virus has shown resilience despite culling efforts. In the US, the tools used to contain previous outbreaks, including culling, are not working aseffectively this time.
Amazing that bird flu doesn’t affect Mexico.
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