271
submitted 7 months ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

How industrial meat and dairy trap us in an infectious disease cycle.

H5N1, or bird flu, has hit dairy farms — but the dairy industry doesn’t want us saying so. 

The current, highly virulent strain of avian flu had already been ripping through chicken and turkey farms over the past two years. Since it jumped to US dairy cows for the first time last month, it’s infected more than 20 dairy herds across eight states, raising alarms among public health authorities about possible spread to humans and potential impacts on the food supply. 

One Texas dairy worker contracted a mild case of bird flu from one of the impacted farms — the second such case ever recorded in the US (though one of hundreds worldwide over the past two decades, most of them fatal).

Whatever fear-mongering you may have seen on social media, we are not on the cusp of a human bird flu pandemic; the chances of further human spread currently remain low. But that could change. As the virus jumps among new mammal species like cows, the risk that it’ll evolve to be able to spread between humans does increase. 

But the American Association of Bovine Practitioners (AABP), an organization of beef and dairy veterinarians, declared in a statement (condemned by public health experts) last week that it doesn’t believe bird flu in cows should be considered bird flu at all.

top 19 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] SoupBrick@yiffit.net 45 points 7 months ago

Ah yes, the good old, "Leave the disease alone and see what happens" tactic. I wonder if it will just go away this time?

[-] rayyy@lemmy.world 13 points 7 months ago

It will be gone be ~~Easter~~ Memorial Day, July 4th or maybe Labor day for sure..

[-] whotookkarl@lemmy.world 2 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Yeah once it warms up all the cows get some fresh air, drink some bleach, stick a flashlight up their butt, it'll be gone in no time /s

[-] isles@lemmy.world 3 points 7 months ago

If I don't test for it, it can't hurt me!

[-] Hobbes_Dent@lemmy.world 36 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

… m, mmm, mad?

Also, no games there industry. You don’t get to choose the name, just do your part for public health with your public protections and money (in some cases).

Edit: grammar games

Mad, cow, industry.

Mad cow industry.

Mad, cow industry?

[-] deegeese@sopuli.xyz 32 points 7 months ago

Moo flu it is.

[-] ElcaineVolta@kbin.social 25 points 7 months ago

yet another reason to be vegan.

[-] aibler@lemmy.world 25 points 7 months ago

At this point, it would be a massive step up if people would just not send their money to people who cram cows in tiny cages with no room to move. Even if the vast majority of people can't give a shit about the well being of animals, they should at least be able to realise that breeding horrific viruses so they have baby cow juice loaded up with drugs is a terrible idea just for their own selfish sake. How hard is it to change a few little habits? Are people so far gone that they can't change any aspect of their lives?

It's so hard to take anyone seriously when they have such little self-control and moral absence that they can't even take any tiny step if it means giving up anything that they are used to.

[-] capem@startrek.website 10 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

How hard is it to change a few little habits?

It is legitimately impossible for most 1st-worlders.

They all think they're entitled to what they've had their entire lives, even if it hurts others.

[-] aibler@lemmy.world 7 points 7 months ago

I know, you're right. I bounce back and forth between despising and pitying them. I feel like I should pity more, but honestly, I spend more time despising.

[-] VARXBLE@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 7 months ago

You can take my milkies away from my cold dead calcium fortified skeletal remains!

This is a joke. I think milk actually tastes real gross

[-] aibler@lemmy.world 6 points 7 months ago

I've not drank anything that was made for baby cows in over 6 years(or any other animal products), I get regularly tested for deficiencies, and I have never been under in calcium. They lied to you. They lied to you because they knew how easy it would be to make you feel like you need to do whatever they tell you. Not only did they convince you that it is healthy to drink their milk, they also convinced you to not think about the fact that they pump it full of drugs to increase their profits. You got played so hard that they don't even have to worry that might question them. At this point, most people are too afraid to even consider they've been played because they don't want to entertain the fact that maybe, just maybe, they've been doing something stupid. The count the egos of their victims to continue their scam for them. As a result, people do their job for them and repeat their manufactured lie to their own children.

[-] Zorsith 4 points 7 months ago

"Got Milk?" Is a seriously insidious ad campaign. The posters are in every school I've ever seen, and have been for decades.

[-] JoMomma@lemm.ee 13 points 7 months ago

Even the powers of veganism cannot protect you from an airborne virus

[-] ElcaineVolta@kbin.social 20 points 7 months ago

obviously, the solution is to dismantle the industries that cause these conditions, but I imagine you already knew that.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 16 points 7 months ago

Okay, how about we just say cow flu?

[-] bitfucker@programming.dev 15 points 7 months ago

IF this virus mutates and becomes a pandemic, at least now we know who to blame.

[-] homesnatch@lemm.ee 2 points 7 months ago

who to blame

Canada?

[-] hark@lemmy.world 2 points 7 months ago

Would they prefer calling it cow flu? Either way, it's going to be used as yet another excuse to jack up prices far beyond the impact (as big or as small as it may be). Not looking forward to this.

this post was submitted on 16 Apr 2024
271 points (100.0% liked)

News

23387 readers
1885 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban. Do not respond to rule-breaking content; report it and move on.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. We have an actively updated blocklist, which you can see here: https://lemmy.world/post/2246130 if you feel like any website is missing, contact the mods. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.


Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.


7. No duplicate posts.


If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners.


The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS