tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/poultry-14036/articlesPoultry – The Conversation2023-11-20T19:56:02Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2174522023-11-20T19:56:02Z2023-11-20T19:56:02ZThis Thanksgiving − and on any holiday − these steps will help prevent foodborne illness<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559841/original/file-20231116-15-tommvh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C21%2C7205%2C5368&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A delicious – and safe – holiday spread involves careful foreplanning and preparation.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/holiday-turkey-dinner-royalty-free-image/836012728?phrase=thanksgiving+dinner&searchscope=image%2Cfilm&adppopup=true">Lauri Patterson/E+ via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Thanksgiving is a time for gathering with friends and family around the dinner table. No one wants to cause their family or friends to get sick from a foodborne illness on this holiday or any other occasion. </p>
<p>The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 1 in 6 Americans, or 48 million people, <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/foodborneburden/2011-foodborne-estimates.html">get sick from a foodborne illness</a> each year. According to the CDC, more than 1 million of these people get sick from <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/salmonella/symptoms-causes/syc-20355329">salmonella</a>, which is the primary pathogen associated with poultry. </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://news.clemson.edu/our-experts/kimberly-baker/">food safety specialist</a>, I educate food producers, manufacturers and consumers on how to ensure the safety of the food they produce.</p>
<p>This Thanksgiving – and, really, for any gathering – make sure you understand how to prepare your meal to ensure that everyone goes home without a foodborne illness. Understanding the safe food practices to follow at home during preparation, cooking, serving and storing leftovers will keep your holiday meal delicious and safe to eat.</p>
<h2>Pathways to foodborne illness</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/general/index.html">Salmonella is a bacteria</a> that causes a foodborne illness called salmonellosis. Salmonella is also often linked to undercooked poultry and beef, undercooked eggs, raw milk and produce. Symptoms of salmonellosis, which include diarrhea, fever and stomach pain, <a href="https://www.foodsafety.gov/food-poisoning/bacteria-and-viruses">can begin six hours to six days</a> after eating contaminated food. </p>
<p>Food contamination occurs when pathogens, toxins or chemicals make their way into food. <a href="https://www.fda.gov/media/83271/download">Common pathogens</a> that are attributed to foodborne illnesses are salmonella, E. coli, listeria and norovirus. Botulism is a foodborne illness that is caused by a toxin that is produced by a bacterium. A bacterial or viral contaminant can get on the food at any point along the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/production-chain.html">food production chain</a>, from the field, water, equipment, processing, handling, transportation, storage or preparation.</p>
<p>Every person who grows, handles, transports, stores or prepares food along the food production chain plays a very important role in detecting, eliminating or reducing contamination.</p>
<h2>The perennial wisdom of hand-washing</h2>
<p>Any food preparation and handling should always start with hand-washing. </p>
<p>There are five steps to <a href="https://www.foodsafety.gov/blog/wash-your-hands-health">proper hand-washing</a>: </p>
<ul>
<li>Wash hands with running water. </li>
<li>Apply <a href="https://hgic.clemson.edu/snowman-hands-can-prevent-food-borne-illness/">enough soap to create a complete lather</a>.</li>
<li>Scrub hands, including the top, between fingers, around fingernails and wrists for a minimum of 20 seconds.</li>
<li>Rinse hands under running water.</li>
<li>Dry with a paper towel or air dry. </li>
</ul>
<p>Hands should also be washed any time during food preparation that your hands have touched another food or surface that may have pathogens on it. This includes handling raw meat, poultry, seafood or eggs, as well as touching unwashed produce, blowing your nose, touching your cellphone or petting a cat or dog, to name a few.</p>
<p>A study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety Inspection Service, which is the branch of the USDA that makes sure meat, poultry and eggs are safe for consumption, observed that <a href="https://www.foodsafety.gov/blog/millions-americans-dirty-hands-are-spreading-dangerous-bacteria">97% of study participants failed to wash their hands</a> during food preparation when they should have. So while hand-washing might seem like a no-brainer, clearly it’s not. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3PmVJQUCm4E?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">It’s hard to overstate the importance of hand-washing prior to food handling.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Rinsing the poultry beforehand is a no-no</h2>
<p>While preparing your meal, there are a few critical food-handling steps to follow to prevent cross contamination, or the transfer of pathogens from one surface to another. </p>
<p>First, keep raw meat, poultry and seafood away from raw or ready-to-eat foods. For example, do not prepare your raw turkey next to where you are preparing a salad, or do not cut produce on a cutting board that had raw meat on it without washing it thoroughly first. </p>
<p>Many people may not realize that it is unsafe to rinse poultry before cooking. The USDA recommends <a href="https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2016/11/16/wash-or-not-wash">leaving poultry unwashed</a> because it can cause pathogens to easily spread throughout the kitchen from the spray of the water. The only exception is a brined turkey. Brined turkeys are required to be rinsed before cooking, but use extra caution when doing so, and be sure to sanitize all surfaces in and around the sink afterward.</p>
<h2>Having a clean work surface is critical</h2>
<p>Another key step to keeping your Thanksgiving meal safe is to effectively <a href="https://extension.colostate.edu/docs/pubs/foodnut/kitchen-sanitize.pdf">clean and sanitize kitchen surfaces and equipment</a> following instructions on your kitchen cleaner. </p>
<p><a href="https://extension.sdstate.edu/make-your-own-kitchen-cleaning-sanitizer">Chlorine bleach</a> is a commonly used sanitizer that can be used in the kitchen, but there are a few things to know before using it. Chlorine bleach works best when mixed with cool – not hot – water and should be made fresh daily before using. To prepare, mix a teaspoon of bleach with one quart of water, and let the solution cover the surface for one minute before wiping, or allow to air dry. </p>
<h2>Cooking the meat to safe temperatures</h2>
<p>Cooking the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-is-turkey-the-main-dish-on-thanksgiving-193702">Thanksgiving turkey</a> or ham are two more critical steps in preparing a safe holiday meal. </p>
<p>Before cooking turkey, <a href="https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2016/11/18/how-safely-thaw-turkey">make sure it is completely thawed</a> in the refrigerator. For large birds, this may require up to one week of thawing time, so plan ahead. </p>
<p>All poultry must be cooked to a minimum of 165 degrees Fahrenheit. <a href="https://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheet/how-to-cook-turkey/">Cooking instructions</a> and cooking temperatures will vary based on the cooking method that you choose. But no matter the cooking method, make sure to take the temperature of the turkey in the thickest portion of the breast meat and innermost part of the thigh, being sure not to touch bone with the thermometer. Poultry must be cooked to 165 F because this is the <a href="https://www.fsis.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media_file/2021-12/Appendix-A.pdf">temperature that is required to kill salmonella</a> instantly. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560489/original/file-20231120-27-f8dj5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman stands in front of a cooked turkey that's sitting on a kitchen counter as she smiles and demonstrates how to handle poultry." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560489/original/file-20231120-27-f8dj5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560489/original/file-20231120-27-f8dj5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560489/original/file-20231120-27-f8dj5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560489/original/file-20231120-27-f8dj5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560489/original/file-20231120-27-f8dj5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560489/original/file-20231120-27-f8dj5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560489/original/file-20231120-27-f8dj5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Food safety expert Kimberly Baker discusses the finer points of preparing a Thanksgiving turkey.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Clemson University</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Based on the size of your bird and your cooking method, determine the amount of cooking time it will need well ahead of time. If you are cooking it in the oven with other dishes, consider that some extra roasting time may be needed, as the temperature of the oven decreases and extends cooking time every time the oven door is opened. You want to make sure you have enough time to cook the turkey thoroughly and allow approximately 30 minutes of rest time at room temperature before carving.</p>
<p>If you are <a href="https://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheet/holiday-meats-not-just-turkey/">preparing ham</a>, first determine whether it is fully precooked at the time of purchase or if cooking is required. Even if fully cooked, hams still need to be heated to a minimum of 140 F. Those that require cooking need to be cooked to 145 F. Like turkey, roasting time will be based on the size of the ham – plan ahead so you know when to put it in the oven. A thermometer should be used to measure the temperature of the thickest portion of the ham without touching bone.</p>
<h2>Safe handling and storage should not be an afterthought</h2>
<p>Safe handling of the turkey, ham and other side dishes does not end after they are cooked. </p>
<p>If the food is served buffet style and will be kept out at room temperature for an extended period of time, make sure to have a plan to keep hot food hot, which means above 135 F, and cold foods below 40 F, which is equivalent to the maximum safe temperature of a refrigerator. For example, hot foods can be kept hot in a preheated chafing dish, and cold foods can be served in their serving dish that is nestled in a bowl or tray of ice. If you are unable to keep the food hot or cold during service, then make sure they are put away in the refrigerator within two hours after serving. </p>
<p>Thanksgiving leftovers should be stored in the refrigerator for <a href="https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/food-safety-basics/leftovers-and-food-safety">no more than three to four days</a>. If you have a lot of leftovers that won’t be eaten within this time frame, consider freezing them for a quick meal at a later date, then thaw and eat them within three to four months for best quality. Remember to label and date leftovers so you know what they are and when they were put in the refrigerator or freezer.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/217452/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kimberly Baker does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Keeping guests safe involves far more than just careful cooking − hand-washing, keeping work surfaces clean, safe handling and proper storage are also key ingredients.Kimberly Baker, Food Systems and Safety Program Team Director and Assistant Extension Specialist, Clemson UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2171022023-11-13T15:00:19Z2023-11-13T15:00:19ZDiseases on farms in South Africa: recent outbreaks point to weaknesses in the system<p>South Africa has had a number of outbreaks of animal diseases in recent months that suggest there are weaknesses in the country’s <a href="https://sapoultry.co.za/pdf-training/biosecurity-guidelines.pdf">biosecurity system</a> – the measures in place to reduce the risk of infectious diseases being transmitted to crops, livestock and poultry.</p>
<p>The outbreaks pose a major challenge for South Africa’s domestic animal farming sector. Fears of weaknesses in the system have been raised by agribusiness for some time, suggesting that pressures and concerns are mounting.</p>
<p>Biosecurity breaches are not unique to South Africa. They have become a significant challenge globally. It’s not easy to put a monetary figure on it, but reports of disease outbreaks across the world, and <a href="https://baseline.bfap.co.za/">indeed in South Africa</a>, suggest the problem has intensified. </p>
<p>In South Africa, reports about <a href="https://www.woah.org/en/disease/foot-and-mouth-disease/">foot-and-mouth disease in cattle</a>, <a href="https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/animal-disease-information/swine-disease-information/african-swine-fever/seminar">African swine fever in pigs</a> and <a href="https://abc3340.com/news/local/alabama-department-of-agriculture-and-industries-pathogenic-avian-influenza-hpai-in-a-commercial-pullet-farm-in-marshall-county-gamebird-farm-chilton-county">avian influenza in poultry</a> have become frequent. But few countries have had to deal with these disease outbreaks almost <a href="https://nahf.co.za/controlled-and-notifiable-diseases/">simultaneously, as South Africa has</a>.</p>
<p>In 2022, <a href="https://nahf.co.za/category/diseases/fmd/">six of South Africa’s nine provinces reported foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks</a>. This was the first time in the country’s history that the disease had been spread this wide.</p>
<p>The situation remains critical. </p>
<p>All these outbreaks have had a notable impact on South African agricultural exports, and the growth prospects of the sector. For example, South Africa’s beef exports for 2022 were down by 12% year-on-year, according to data from <a href="https://www.trademap.org/Index.aspx?nvpm=%7c%7c%7c%7c%7c%7c%7c%7c%7c%7c%7c%7c%7c%7c%7c%7c%7c">Trade Map</a>. This decline was primarily due to the temporary closures of various export markets following the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in South Africa. Farmers are being hit hard. </p>
<p>Livestock and poultry account for <a href="https://www.dalrrd.gov.za/phocadownloadpap/Statistics_and_Economic_Analysis/Statistical_Information/Abstract%202022.pdf">roughly half of agriculture’s gross value added</a>. </p>
<p>Based on this history and the experiences of the agricultural sector, there is concern that South Africa’s biosecurity breaches signal serious capacity challenges in farm biosecurity measures and the country’s veterinary and related support services (mainly the laboratories) that control the movement of livestock and vaccine production. </p>
<p>The South African government, organised agriculture and industry bodies should work together closely to address the country’s biosecurity challenges.</p>
<h2>Disease outbreaks</h2>
<p>On 4 November this year, the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development <a href="https://nahf.co.za/category/diseases/fmd/">announced</a> it was investigating a suspected outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in one district.</p>
<p>This means the issue that was identified a year ago remains a challenge. These outbreaks weigh heavily on the cattle industry’s fortunes. The beef industry accounts for a <a href="https://www.dalrrd.gov.za/phocadownloadpap/Statistics_and_Economic_Analysis/Statistical_Information/Abstract%202022.pdf">sizable share of the South African agricultural economy</a>, and is positioned to absorb new entrant farmers in the sector. Beef exports were about 1% of agricultural exports, valued at US$151 million, in 2022, according to <a href="https://www.trademap.org/Index.aspx">Trade Map</a>.</p>
<p>The sheep industry was also affected by the 2022 outbreak. China, a significant market for South African wool, suspended <a href="https://www.foodformzansi.co.za/breaking-china-un-bans-sa-wool-imports/#:%7E:text=China%20has%20lifted%20its%205,foot%2Dand%2Dmouth%20disease%20outbreaks&text=After%20five%20anxious%20months%20of,industry%20can%20finally%20breathe%20again.">imports</a>. This resulted in a 21% year-on-year decline in the export value of wool in 2022, to US$337 million, according to Trade Map data. Wool still made up 3% of South Africa’s record agricultural export value of US$12.8 billion in 2022. </p>
<p>China’s official <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-06/china-bans-south-african-wool-due-to-foot-and-mouth-disease/100970090">reason for the suspension was the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak</a>. But it might not be all that clear cut. China may also have had <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/covid-curbs-bite-chinese-ports-threatening-global-supply-chains-2022-03-16/">capacity issues at its ports</a> at the time because of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/chinas-loosened-covid-19-policies-following-years-of-aggressive-lockdowns-and-quarantines-have-left-the-country-vulnerable-196179">tail-end effects of COVID-19</a> and the <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/12/23/china-presses-on-in-a-long-reopening-path-from-covid.html">restrictions</a> there.</p>
<p>China has a unique protocol to handle wool shipments and avoid any contamination during a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in South Africa. <a href="https://www.iol.co.za/capetimes/news/ban-on-wool-exports-to-china-lifted-after-foot-and-mouth-disease-scare-66945c3f-aa4b-4e45-b93d-62a08d5f58ce">This was agreed in 2019</a> after an outbreak.</p>
<p>In 2022 South Africa’s pig industry was put under fresh pressures. Towards the end of the year <a href="https://www.gov.za/speeches/african-swine-fever-27-jan-2023-0000">outbreaks of African swine fever</a> were reported. The disease remains a challenge. </p>
<p>Most recently, the focus has been on <a href="https://www.nicd.ac.za/avian-flu-outbreak/">avian influenza</a>. More than a <a href="https://sapa.jshiny.com/jdata/sapa/hpai2023H7/">hundred commercial poultry facilities have reported cases</a>. There are major losses for breeders of layers and broilers. As a result, there has been a spike in imports of fertilised eggs to rebuild the parent stock flock. This is key for stabilising the industry.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/bird-flu-in-south-africa-expert-explains-whats-behind-the-chicken-crisis-and-what-must-be-done-about-it-215667">Bird flu in South Africa: expert explains what's behind the chicken crisis and what must be done about it</a>
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<p>Major producers have announced <a href="https://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/loadshedding-and-worst-ever-bird-flu-hit-astral-profit-2023-09-21">serious losses</a>. Consumers are also seeing a rise in the price of eggs.</p>
<h2>Policy considerations</h2>
<p>The growth prospects of farming businesses remain at risk if there are no material improvements in biosecurity. This is particularly true for sub-sectors that are crucial for inclusive growth. For example, the National Agricultural Marketing Council estimates suggest that black farmers account for <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Country-Two-Agricultures-Wandile-Sihlobo-ebook/dp/B0CG9VHL57/ref=sr_1_2?crid=285QFCS0Q8WB5&keywords=Wandile+Sihlobo&qid=1693081573&s=digital-text&sprefix=wandile+sihlob%2Cdigital-text%2C534&sr=1-2&asin=B0CG9VHL57&revisionId=9faddca9&format=1&depth=1">18%, 13% and 34% of wool, mohair and cattle production</a>, respectively.</p>
<p>The department of land and agriculture should consider earmarking a share of its annual budget for emergencies to deal with biosecurity risks. These funds should be used only in the case of notifiable animal disease outbreaks and under strict rules and in concurrence with the South African <a href="https://www.treasury.gov.za/">National Treasury</a>. This will be necessary to control animal movements, procure vaccines and permit vaccination in certain areas, employ additional staff and compensate producers when animals must be culled.</p>
<p>Notably, the government should also work the private sector on vaccine manufacturing as national laboratories have <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-01-12-red-flags-raised-agricultural-organisations-and-experts-warn-that-animal-vaccine-production-in-south-africa-could-fail/">experienced failures in the recent past</a>, thus weakening disease control efforts. Additionally, government should increase the number of veterinarians and animal health technicians. </p>
<p>Also necessary is the repair and maintenance of international fences, which fail to keep wild animals and infected animals from neighbouring countries out of South Africa. Collaboration between Public Works and the National Treasury in this respect is critical. </p>
<p>In essence, most interventions require better management, coordination, restructuring of departments, and investment in fencing, new laboratory equipment and vaccine production.</p>
<p>Beyond the technical matters, the relationship between the regulators and farmers should also be improved so that disease outbreaks can be managed collaboratively with no hostility.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/217102/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Wandile Sihlobo is the Chief Economist of the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz) and a member of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC).</span></em></p>South Africa’s biosecurity breaches signal capacity challenges in farm biosecurity measures and the country’s veterinary and related support services.Wandile Sihlobo, Senior Fellow, Department of Agricultural Economics, Stellenbosch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2156672023-10-19T11:57:12Z2023-10-19T11:57:12ZBird flu in South Africa: expert explains what’s behind the chicken crisis and what must be done about it<p><em>An outbreak of <a href="https://www.woah.org/en/disease/avian-influenza/">avian flu</a> – a highly contagious viral infection that affects wild birds as well as poultry – <a href="https://www.nicd.ac.za/avian-influenza-outbreak/">has hit poultry farms in South Africa</a>. Two different strains are causing outbreaks in the country – A(H5N1) and influenza A(H7N6). A specialist in poultry health, Shahn Bisschop, answers some questions put to him by The Conversation Africa.</em></p>
<h2>What strain has broken out in South Africa?</h2>
<p>The outbreak caused by a highly pathogenic (HPAI) strain of H7N6 avian influenza is causing the most concern at present. The strain was <a href="https://www.news24.com/fin24/companies/bird-flu-super-infectious-sa-strain-emerges-in-mpumalanga-20230627">first confirmed in chickens</a> near Delmas north of Johannesburg at the beginning of June 2023.</p>
<p>This virus is a novel mutation of a strain which originated from wild birds at or near the location of the original outbreak. </p>
<p>The strain is well-adapted to chickens – it infects them easily and replicates effectively in them, in preference to other avian species – and spreads very easily between birds and farms. An <a href="https://sapa.jshiny.com/jdata/sapa/outbreaklanding/">estimated</a> 10 million have become infected while 6 million died from the H7N6. A further 1.7 million died from H5N1 earlier in the year.</p>
<p>The conventional control measures (collectively known as biosecurity) have been less effective than usual in limiting the spread of the disease. The main measures taken on poultry farms include strictly limiting human and vehicle movement. People entering farms will typically take further measures to limit disease transmission such as showering, changing clothes and disinfecting footwear when moving between different parts of the farm. </p>
<p>Because wild birds are associated with the spread of avian flu, measures are taken to ensure they are completely excluded from all chicken sheds. </p>
<h2>What’s new this time?</h2>
<p>For at least the past nine years, HPAI H5 viruses of the 2.3.4.4 clade <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41421-023-00571-x">have been spread across the globe</a> principally by wild bird migrations and infect a range of avian and mammalian species. The first recorded cases caused by viruses belonging to this clade were reported in South Africa in 2017. A second outbreak occurred in 2020. It was anticipated that the next outbreak would probably also be caused by these viruses and indeed the first reported cases of HPAI in 2023 in the coastal regions were associated with H5 strains.</p>
<p>Local experts are working on the theory that the present outbreak of H7N6 HPAI <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/avian-in-birds.htm">was created</a> when a low pathogenicity AI (LPAI) virus circulating without causing disease in wild birds underwent a mutation to become an HPAI strain adapted to causing serious disease in chickens. This mutation occurred locally. </p>
<p>Mutation from LPAI to HPAI has been described in poultry in various parts of the world but was considered less likely than the return of the H5 clade 2.3.4.4 viruses previously encountered.</p>
<h2>What’s in place and what’s missing</h2>
<p>Avian influenza is a “controlled disease”. That means it’s placed under strict government control with the aim of eradication as quickly as possible when outbreaks are detected. All outbreaks on farms are immediately reported to the state veterinary service, which takes responsibility for the disease. </p>
<p>The protocol for HPAI control is that all affected farms are placed under strict quarantine and all surviving birds are destroyed and disposed of as quickly as possible in order to limit the further spread of the disease.</p>
<p>But there are weaknesses in the system. </p>
<p>The biggest is that the state veterinary services don’t have sufficient resources to manage the outbreaks effectively.</p>
<p>Secondly, because the state doesn’t compensate farmers for their losses, they have difficulty getting farmers to comply with orders to cull. This has meant that outbreaks have spread out of control. Infected birds have been moved off infected farms for sale – taking the disease with them.</p>
<p>Farmers in the EU and US are compensated when culling happens. This used to be the case in South Africa but no longer happens.</p>
<p>As a result, South Africa has struggled to contain HPAI outbreaks. In<a href="https://www.nicd.ac.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/NICD-Avian-influenza-FAQ_final1-1.pdf"> 2017</a> and <a href="https://rr-africa.woah.org/en/immediate-notifications-in-africa/">2020/21</a> the outbreaks gradually slowed and eventually stopped. </p>
<p>HPAI outbreaks tend to be seasonal. In Europe, they occur principally in winter months. In South Africa, there is a similar but less clear trend to more cases in the winter and fewer in summer. This may be related to reduced viral survival in hotter summer weather.</p>
<h2>Are there new approaches to consider?</h2>
<p>New and innovative thinking is needed to deal with the reality on the ground in South Africa.</p>
<p>One possible solution is the introduction of appropriate vaccines. This would reduce the losses associated with outbreaks and would slow the spread of the disease between farms. Like all vaccines, they can’t prevent birds from becoming infected but they can manage the level of infection and spread. But they can’t eradicate the disease. </p>
<p>But there are limited options in terms of available vaccines. And South Africa would need to ensure that the vaccines registered for use in the country were effective against the local strain. If vaccines are poorly matched to outbreak strains, they won’t be effective.</p>
<p>All of this will take time, even with the best effort of government and industry. </p>
<h2>Does the strain pose a risk to people? What should consumers should be aware of?</h2>
<p>The South African Poultry Association <a href="http://www.poultrydiseases.co.za/750-2/">has made it clear</a> that poultry products are safe for consumption. It has been <a href="https://www.up.ac.za/research-matters/news/post_2991581-up-researchers-weigh-in-on-bird-flu-outbreak">collaborating with the University of Pretoria</a> to make sure poultry products are indeed safe. Together with leading scientists they have sequenced the current field strain of H7 avian influenza virus. In <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10302261/">a recent paper </a> scientists reported that none of the amino acid markers were present that afford the virus the ability to bind to mammalian cells.</p>
<p>This shows that infection of humans with the current virus is highly unlikely.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/215667/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shahn Bisschop does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New and innovative thinking is needed to deal with the reality on the ground in South Africa.Shahn Bisschop, Senior lecturer, specialist poultry veterinarian, University of PretoriaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2043762023-06-19T15:04:29Z2023-06-19T15:04:29ZBackpack-wearing chickens are helping change the way we study animal welfare<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527531/original/file-20230522-26-6ra3o7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5184%2C3453&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/indoor-chicken-farm-feeding-broiler-1607067385">Iaroslav Konnikov/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The chicken sheds I conduct research in are enormous – over three-quarters the length of a football field and 20 metres wide. In each house, around 28,000 near-identical broiler chickens, which are the type we use for meat, are reared in six-week production cycles. </p>
<p>My research helps farms find ways to improve the welfare of these birds. This might involve <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/animal/article/abs/influence-of-the-provision-of-natural-light-and-straw-bales-on-activity-levels-and-leg-health-in-commercial-broiler-chickens/BCEA89CAEB95566593B9DC5E5FBE756C">adjusting their lighting</a>, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168159117303489?casa_token=R0d1IOfG9QwAAAAA:awiAJ18ysmuwH8fqLX8biTf-DO6L9JHeyM06sRjrcrJ10IaGEiAgt66kKC5ZeDW3WOmQY1Fz-wU">improving the design of perches</a> or <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0259333">seeing how different breeds compare</a>. With so many animals per house, it makes sense to consider how any change affects the flock as a whole.</p>
<p>Thinking about broilers as a group also makes sense because they are considered to be a pretty homogeneous bunch. One effect of selectively breeding these animals to maximise how much meat they produce is that they all reach slaughter weight at the same time and all look very similar. So, short of dispatching a student with very good eyesight to follow a single chicken around for weeks, monitoring an individual broiler under commercial conditions is impossible.</p>
<p>Researchers get around this by either monitoring 100 birds and assuming they represent the 28,000 or keeping 100 broilers in a pen, applying a change to them and hoping it is similar enough to commercial conditions to get valid results. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Inside a large barn with overhead lights, rows of feeders and chickens." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526001/original/file-20230512-23549-50hj2p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526001/original/file-20230512-23549-50hj2p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526001/original/file-20230512-23549-50hj2p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526001/original/file-20230512-23549-50hj2p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526001/original/file-20230512-23549-50hj2p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526001/original/file-20230512-23549-50hj2p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526001/original/file-20230512-23549-50hj2p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A typical broiler shed.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://elements.envato.com/small-chickens-76RUCLM">Sebastian_Studio</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But what if we want to know how <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-34149-0">individual broilers experience their environment</a>? My colleagues and I in the Animal Welfare Unit at Queen’s University Belfast turned to developments in indoor tracking technology for help. Along with Icelandic software company Locatify, we have been working to adapt a commercial system that can show where individual chickens are in the house in real-time. By attaching backpacks to chickens, we discovered just how different each bird is – and it could help us learn to meet their needs better.</p>
<h2>Chicken backpacks</h2>
<p>The ultra-wideband tags we used to monitor the movements of the chickens are usually found tracking forklifts in warehouses or attached to lanyards to track people as they move around offices or museums. </p>
<p>Ultra-wideband is a radio technology that works by recording how long it takes for a signal to move from the transmitter (or tag) to a receiver. This data can be used to identify the object’s position to within 30cm. </p>
<p>Crucially, the tags were small enough that they could be placed inside specially designed backpacks for chickens to carry over several weeks. The system recorded their location and movement during this time, giving a clear view of how they used the house. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526002/original/file-20230512-23633-90trgr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A chicken with a small, square wallet on its back." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526002/original/file-20230512-23633-90trgr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526002/original/file-20230512-23633-90trgr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=719&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526002/original/file-20230512-23633-90trgr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=719&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526002/original/file-20230512-23633-90trgr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=719&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526002/original/file-20230512-23633-90trgr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=903&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526002/original/file-20230512-23633-90trgr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=903&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526002/original/file-20230512-23633-90trgr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=903&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A chicken with the tracking tag in a small, square backpack.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-34149-0">Baxter & O'Connell (2023)/Scientific Reports</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When I explained this concept to one of the farmers, he waved an arm towards one corner of the house and told me he was certain he saw the same chicken in that corner every morning. Another farmer was convinced they roamed around as they pleased, using the whole house. </p>
<p>It turns out they were both right. </p>
<p>We were surprised to find that, despite how homogeneous the chickens and their environments are, there were still significant differences between their movement patterns. We followed 17 chickens in our first trial with the new tracking system and, while one spent the majority of its time within 10 metres of the area I originally tagged it in, another visited over 97% of the house across a week. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A heat map showing two separate patterns of movement." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526003/original/file-20230512-23549-o4s9gt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526003/original/file-20230512-23549-o4s9gt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=285&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526003/original/file-20230512-23549-o4s9gt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=285&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526003/original/file-20230512-23549-o4s9gt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=285&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526003/original/file-20230512-23549-o4s9gt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526003/original/file-20230512-23549-o4s9gt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526003/original/file-20230512-23549-o4s9gt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">How two tagged broilers moved around the house during one week.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-34149-0">Baxter & O'Connell (2023)/Scientific Reports</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We got another chance to see whether chickens really preferred one bit of the house to another when we penned and then released the tagged birds after the initial observation week. We wanted to see whether the chickens would return to the area we had collected them from, and a few did. Three out of nine chickens collected from the back of the house made their way back there within 24 hours. But five never returned to those original spots for the rest of the production cycle. </p>
<h2>Variety is the spice of life</h2>
<p>So why was there so much variation? There are a few obvious influences on broiler movement that we looked at first. Using one of the two methods outlined above, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00439339.2019.1680025">many studies</a> have found that heavier birds, older birds and those with leg issues are significantly less active. We struggled to match any of these issues conclusively with our tagged broilers. </p>
<p>The two heaviest broilers did roam around the house the least, but a number of lighter birds used less space than heavier ones. Our one lame tagged broiler was recorded in 69% of the house, while a lighter broiler with a better gait occupied 43%. We did see less activity as birds aged, but even this was not predictable and depended on the individual. </p>
<p>We couldn’t even nail down a link between space use and activity, meaning that broilers exploring less of the house were moving around in their area as much as broilers using a larger amount of space.</p>
<p>Although all of this didn’t produce the neat graphs I was hoping for, it did suggest that perhaps broilers aren’t as homogeneous as we thought. </p>
<p>Like most animals, it makes sense that chicken behaviour is influenced by each individual’s personality traits. Perhaps broilers that are bolder are more likely to explore the house in detail. Are more fearful chickens more likely to be startled by farm staff or other birds and so keep moving around? Do some chickens have better spatial awareness than others? Are some more likely to form social bonds than others?</p>
<p>We hope to continue using this tracking technology to delve deeper into why particular broilers use space the way they do – and what changes can be made to create the best possible environment for the group and for the individual.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204376/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mary Baxter receives funding from British Poultry Science Ltd and Moy Park Ltd. </span></em></p>Tracking data suggests individual chickens have very different movement patterns.Mary Baxter, Research Fellow in Animal Welfare, Queen's University BelfastLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2016322023-03-27T18:54:30Z2023-03-27T18:54:30ZBird flu FAQ: What is avian influenza? How is it transmitted to humans? What are the symptoms? Are there effective treatments and vaccines? Will H5N1 become the next viral pandemic?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517749/original/file-20230327-346-q2ntym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=9%2C320%2C3283%2C2241&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Avian influenza ('bird flu') is a highly transmissible and usually mild disease that affects wild birds such as geese, swans, seagulls, shorebirds, and also domestic birds such as chickens and turkeys.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(CDC and NIAID)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/bird-flu-faq--what-is-avian-influenza-how-is-it-transmitted-to-humans-what-are-the-symptoms-are-there-effective-treatments-and-vaccines-will-h5n1-become-the-next-viral-pandemic" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Avian influenza (“bird flu”) is a highly contagious viral infection that affects wild and domestic birds worldwide. It has recently gained notoriety for its devastating impact on the commercial poultry sector and as an <a href="https://www.gavi.org/vaccineswork/five-things-know-about-whether-h5n1-bird-flu-outbreak-could-turn-pandemic?gclid=EAIaIQobChMItpTYmv76_QIVxsiUCR14wADYEAAYASAAEgJi4PD_BwE">emerging human public health threat</a>. </p>
<h2>What are avian influenza viruses?</h2>
<p>Influenza viruses belong to the Orthomyxovirus family and are grouped into four species <a href="https://ncbiinsights.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2023/02/21/influenza-virus-ncbi-taxonomy/">designated by the letters A (Alpha), B (Beta), C (Gamma) and D (Delta</a>). Almost all influenza infections in humans are caused by influenza A and B viruses. </p>
<p>Influenza A viruses have been <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111%2Firv.12412">named avian (bird), swine (pig), equine (horse), canine (dog), chiropteran (bat) and human</a>, based on their natural reservoir (the organism where they are most commonly found). </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517396/original/file-20230324-24-5vkuoi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="diagram of influenza heirarchy" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517396/original/file-20230324-24-5vkuoi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517396/original/file-20230324-24-5vkuoi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517396/original/file-20230324-24-5vkuoi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517396/original/file-20230324-24-5vkuoi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517396/original/file-20230324-24-5vkuoi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517396/original/file-20230324-24-5vkuoi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517396/original/file-20230324-24-5vkuoi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Influenza species and host-specific forms of Influenza A.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Sameer Elsayed)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Avian influenza and other Influenza A viruses are categorized into subtypes according to the composition of their hemagglutinin (H) and neuraminidase (N) surface proteins. <a href="https://doi.org/10.3201%2Feid2410.ET2410">There are 18 known H types (H1 to H18) and 11 known N types (N1 to N11)</a>. The combination of an H type and an N type defines a specific influenza virus subtype (for example, H5N1). </p>
<h2>What do we know about avian influenza?</h2>
<p>Avian influenza (“bird flu”) was <a href="https://doi.org/10.5822%2F978-1-61091-466-6_7">first described in the late 1800s</a>. It’s a highly transmissible and <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390%2Fpathogens10050630">usually mild disease of wild birds such as geese, swans, seagulls, shorebirds, and also domestic birds such as chickens and turkeys</a>. It is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080%2F22221751.2022.2155072">usually caused by influenza A viruses with an H5 or H7 hemaglutinin type</a>, for example, H5N1 or H7N9. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="White chickens outdoors on grass" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517337/original/file-20230324-24-qz4ve3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517337/original/file-20230324-24-qz4ve3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=297&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517337/original/file-20230324-24-qz4ve3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=297&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517337/original/file-20230324-24-qz4ve3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=297&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517337/original/file-20230324-24-qz4ve3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517337/original/file-20230324-24-qz4ve3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517337/original/file-20230324-24-qz4ve3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In Canada and the U.S., outbreaks of H5N1 influenza in domestic and wild birds have been reported in most regions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons/Woodly Wonderwords</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While many forms of these viruses are minimally virulent — meaning they cause mild disease — some are highly virulent, meaning that they cause more serious disease. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080%2F22221751.2022.2155072">Millions of poultry deaths in Asia, Europe, the Americas and Australia</a> have been <a href="https://www.paho.org/en/documents/epidemiological-alert-outbreaks-avian-influenza-caused-influenza-ah5n1-region-americas">attributed to highly virulent forms of H5N1, H5N8, H7N7 and H7N9, with H5N1 accounting for the vast majority of cases</a>. </p>
<p>In Canada and the U.S., outbreaks of H5N1 influenza in domestic and wild birds <a href="https://www.paho.org/en/documents/epidemiological-alert-outbreaks-avian-influenza-caused-influenza-ah5n1-region-americas">have been reported in most regions</a>. </p>
<h2>How is avian influenza transmitted to humans?</h2>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="a roast chicken on a wooden board" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517570/original/file-20230327-24-35bjxm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517570/original/file-20230327-24-35bjxm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517570/original/file-20230327-24-35bjxm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517570/original/file-20230327-24-35bjxm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517570/original/file-20230327-24-35bjxm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517570/original/file-20230327-24-35bjxm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517570/original/file-20230327-24-35bjxm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bird flu cannot be transmitted by eating cooked poultry products.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Unsplash/Tofan Teodor)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Avian influenza viruses are not easily transmitted from birds to humans or to other animals. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093%2Fbmb%2Fldz036">Humans are accidental hosts — meaning that the virus does not typically circulate among people</a>. Humans may acquire the virus after <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007%2F978-94-024-0908-6_10">inhaling birds’ respiratory droplets or exposure of their mucus membranes to bird feces, saliva or contaminated surfaces</a>. </p>
<p>Bird flu cannot be transmitted by eating cooked poultry products. Always follow <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/meat-poultry-fish-seafood-safety/poultry-safety.html">food safety guidelines</a> for cooking and for handling raw poultry.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1011135">Recently discovered mutations in the neuraminidase (N) gene</a> of H5N1 viruses isolated from humans appear to promote bird-to-human transmission. Fortunately, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3201%2Feid2105.141756">human-to-human transmission is extremely rare</a>.</p>
<h2>When was avian influenza first reported in humans?</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007%2F82_2012_254">first human cases of avian influenza were reported in 1997 by public health authorities in Hong Kong</a>. These infections were linked to poultry infected with a highly virulent H5N1 subtype. Of the 18 affected individuals, six <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007%2F82_2012_254">(33 per cent) succumbed to their illness</a>. </p>
<p>Since then, avian influenza has been responsible for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080%2F22221751.2022.2155072">at least 2,600 infections and over 1,000 deaths</a> in humans worldwide. In the majority of human cases, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080%2F22221751.2022.2155072">infection was acquired following exposure to live poultry</a> rather than wild birds.</p>
<p>Human infections due to avian influenza viruses have primarily been caused by subtypes H5N1, H5N6, H7N7 and H7N9. All but two of the documented human fatalities to date have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080%2F22221751.2022.2155072">occurred in low-to-middle-income countries</a>, likely as a consequence of the total case burden and lack of access to antiviral drugs. </p>
<h2>What are the signs and symptoms of avian influenza in humans? How is it diagnosed?</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/influenza-(avian-and-other-zoonotic)?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIhdC4osP0_QIVsRR9Ch29oA3PEAAYAiAAEgJXU_D_BwE">Early symptoms of avian influenza in humans are similar to those caused by seasonal influenza viruses</a> such as H3N2 and H1N1. Typical symptoms include fevers, chills, muscle aches, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, headache and fatigue. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1007%2F978-94-017-7363-8_3">Infections caused by highly virulent forms of H5N1 or H7N9 subtypes may follow a more severe course of illness</a> characterized by internal bleeding, multi-organ failure and a high mortality rate.</p>
<p>The combination of an influenza-like illness and a recent history of exposure to live poultry should raise suspicion for avian influenza. The diagnosis is confirmed by detection of viral RNA in nasopharyngeal specimens using tests for specific subtypes. </p>
<h2>What treatments are available for avian influenza?</h2>
<p>Antiviral drugs belonging to the <a href="https://doi.org/10.7883/yoken.JJID.2021.751">neuraminidase inhibitor (such as oseltamivir) and endonuclease inhibitor classes (for example, baloxivir) appear to be highly effective against most avian influenza subtypes, including H5N1 and H7N9</a>. However, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.antiviral.2020.104886">antiviral resistance</a> has been well documented and represents a threat to the potency of these agents in the face of constant viral evolution. </p>
<h2>Is there a human vaccine against avian influenza?</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Person in a blue T-shirt being given an injection in the upper arm" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517331/original/file-20230324-26-qz4ve3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517331/original/file-20230324-26-qz4ve3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517331/original/file-20230324-26-qz4ve3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517331/original/file-20230324-26-qz4ve3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517331/original/file-20230324-26-qz4ve3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517331/original/file-20230324-26-qz4ve3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517331/original/file-20230324-26-qz4ve3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Human vaccines against avian flu have been developed and approved, but current stockpiles are unlikely to meet demand if there is a surge in human infections.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia/U.S. Marine Corps/Jackeline Perez Rivera</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Licensed vaccines exist to protect humans against avian influenza, although they are not commercially available. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.news.sanofi.us/press-releases?item=137063">In 2007, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved an H5N1 vaccine</a> for adults ages 18 and older. These vaccines form part of the U.S. government’s <a href="https://aspr.hhs.gov/SNS/Pages/Sustaining-the-Stockpile.aspx">Strategic National Stockpile (SNS)</a> of medicines for deployment in the event of a public health emergency. <a href="https://www.fda.gov/vaccines-blood-biologics/safety-availability-biologics/influenza-h5n1-virus-monovalent-vaccine-adjuvanted-manufactured-id-biomedical-corporation-questions">In 2013, the FDA approved a second H5N1 vaccine</a> that is also part of the SNS. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/medicines/human/EPAR/pandemic-influenza-vaccine-h5n1-astrazeneca-previously-pandemic-influenza-vaccine-h5n1-medimmune">Similar vaccines are licensed in other jurisdictions</a>. All of these vaccines were shown to be safe and effective at the time of approval.</p>
<p>In contrast, <a href="https://doi.org/10.12688%2Fgatesopenres.13171.1">H5N1 vaccines for use in animals are commercially available</a>. Vaccination of poultry has been widely adopted in <a href="https://doi.org/10.12688%2Fgatesopenres.13171.1">China and other low-to-middle income countries</a>. The <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/3887075-white-house-weighs-mass-poultry-vaccination-amid-bird-flu-outbreak/">U.S.</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adc9644">Europe</a> are gearing up for a massive poultry vaccination campaign to curtail the spread of bird flu. </p>
<h2>How else can I protect myself against avian influenza?</h2>
<p>Avoiding direct contact with live poultry is perhaps the single most effective measure to prevent development of avian influenza. If exposure to potentially infected birds cannot be avoided, personal protective gear including gloves, gowns, face masks and eye shields should be worn. Hands should be thoroughly washed with soap and water after all potential exposures. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1128/mSphere.00474-19">Alcohol-based hand sanitizers are less effective at inactivating influenza viruses compared to handwashing</a>. </p>
<h2>Are bird feeders safe to use?</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517569/original/file-20230327-28-56ojl8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517569/original/file-20230327-28-56ojl8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517569/original/file-20230327-28-56ojl8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517569/original/file-20230327-28-56ojl8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517569/original/file-20230327-28-56ojl8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517569/original/file-20230327-28-56ojl8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517569/original/file-20230327-28-56ojl8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">There are divergent opinions on the potential role of bird feeders in spreading the disease.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Unsplash/Grayson Smith)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Although there is currently a negligible risk of developing avian influenza following wild bird exposure, there are divergent opinions on the role of bird feeders in potentially spreading the disease. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://spca.bc.ca/news/bc-spca-asks-public-to-remove-bird-feeders-due-to-avian-influenza-outbreak/">British Columbia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals</a> recommends temporarily abandoning the practice of using backyard bird feeders. In contrast, the <a href="https://ask.usda.gov/s/article/Should-bird-feeders-be-taken-down-to-prevent-the-spread-of-diseases-such-as-bird-flu">U.S. Department of Agriculture</a> does not recommend against their use unless poultry are being farmed in the area. </p>
<h2>Is avian influenza the next viral pandemic?</h2>
<p>There is no way to predict if avian influenza will evolve into a pandemic affecting humans. Mitigation strategies to prevent cross-species transmission include large-scale pre-emptive vaccination of domestic birds and culling of infected flocks. </p>
<p>Of major concern is the potential for novel avian influenza subtypes to emerge through antigenic shift. This phenomenon involves reassortment of hemaglutinin and neuraminidase genes when a single host is infected with more than one viral subtype. As such, avian influenza is a <a href="https://www.gavi.org/vaccineswork/next-pandemic/h5n1-and-h7n9-influenza">prime contender as a pandemic viral disease</a> of animals and humans alike. </p>
<p>Current stockpiles of avian influenza vaccines for human use <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/bird-flu-vaccine-human-1.6784487">will likely be inadequate to meet societal needs</a> should there be a surge in human infections over time.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201632/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sameer Elsayed does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Avian influenza — commonly known as ‘bird flu’ — is infecting domestic and wild birds in Canada and around the world.Sameer Elsayed, Professor of Medicine, Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, and Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Western UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2010562023-03-16T14:47:46Z2023-03-16T14:47:46ZBird flu: Nigeria is on major migratory bird routes, new strains keep appearing<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514989/original/file-20230313-28-msyt5e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2464%2C1648&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Nigeria has to step up biosecurity measures to check frequent bird flu outbreaks. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/dozens-of-birds-are-carried-in-wheel-barrows-to-a-dump-site-news-photo/1211936110?phrase=bird%20flu%20in%20nigeria&adppopup=true">Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Avian influenza is a highly contagious viral infection of birds, commonly called “bird flu”, which has been recurring in Nigeria <a href="https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/avian-influenza-bird-flu/nigeria-has-africas-first-h5n1-bird-flu-outbreak">since 2006</a>. It has <a href="https://www.one-health.panafrican-med-journal.com/content/article/2/16/full/">resulted in</a> the loss of millions of birds and income for people who rely on the poultry industry. Nigeria is currently grappling with another outbreak which <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/poultry.htm">started in 2021</a>.</em> </p>
<p><em>The Conversation Africa asked Clement Meseko, a virologist and expert on animal influenza, to explain the disease’s re-occurrences.</em></p>
<hr>
<h2>What is bird flu? How does it spread? Is it dangerous to humans?</h2>
<p>Bird flu is scientifically known as avian influenza and the pathogenic form as highly pathogenic avian influenza. It is <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-25385-1_17">a disease in birds</a> (specifically poultry) caused by an influenza virus. It is highly pathogenic, meaning it causes tissue and organ damage in the host, and can kill <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20591211/">more than 75%</a> of the infected flock.</p>
<p>Waterfowls like ducks are natural reservoirs of the disease. They can harbour avian flu without <a href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/nvj/article/view/178945">showing any symptoms</a>. Many waterfowls and other wild birds are migratory, moving across and between continents – this brings them into contact with resident birds and domestic poultry. Their body secretions and excretions may contain virus that can then infect other birds and poultry.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/nvj/article/view/68949">The symptoms</a> in infected poultry include sudden death, respiratory distress, cough and haemorrhages in tissue and organs. Other animals, including pigs, horses and dogs can also be infected – and so can humans. In fact, it is zoonotic and therefore <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-24371-6">can be fatal</a> for humans too. Highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 virus infections have infected <a href="https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/wpro---documents/emergency/surveillance/avian-influenza/ai_20230224.pdf?sfvrsn=5f006f99_111">more than</a> 880 people with about 50% case fatality globally. </p>
<p>The virus also has the capacity to cause a pandemic: an influenza virus of avian origin, but not the currently circulating strain, caused the 1918 pandemic that ultimately <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/1918-commemoration/1918-pandemic-history.htm">killed about 50 million people</a> – worse than the current <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2023.1145235/full">COVID-19 pandemic </a>.</p>
<h2>How many outbreaks have there been in Nigeria since 2006?</h2>
<p>Nigeria’s first outbreak of bird flu was confirmed in January 2006, the <a href="https://www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2807/ese.13.42.19007-en?crawler=true">first epidemic in poultry in Africa</a>. It killed millions of birds and millions more were culled to contain its spread. The economic and livelihood loss was huge as the disease spread all over the country with 100% mortality in many cases.
The estimate of the <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320419066_Economic_Losses_and_Implications_of_Highly_Pathogenic_Avian_Influenza_HPAI_H5N1_Resurgence_in_Nigeria">economic cost</a> of bird flu outbreak in Nigeria was over nine billion Nigerian naira (about
US$32 million) – with people losing investment, livelihood and jobs.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515817/original/file-20230316-28-qkc7jr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515817/original/file-20230316-28-qkc7jr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515817/original/file-20230316-28-qkc7jr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515817/original/file-20230316-28-qkc7jr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515817/original/file-20230316-28-qkc7jr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515817/original/file-20230316-28-qkc7jr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515817/original/file-20230316-28-qkc7jr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dead birds are gathered in a dump for burning in Kano 11 February, 2006.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pius Utomi EkpeiAFP via Getty Images</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The disease was brought under control by 2008 thanks to stringent biosecurity measures like depopulation (culling), decontamination and control of poultry movement. In 2015 <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4480409/">another strain</a> emerged in Nigeria. Since then, new strains <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/tbed.14000">keep appearing</a>. </p>
<p>Live bird markets, common across Nigeria, are the main points of spread of bird flu while wetlands are the points of initial transmissions. Local waterfowls and other birds that may harbour avian flu come into contact with other bird species and with people. In 2006, <a href="https://www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2807/ese.13.42.19007-en?crawler=true/">312 cases</a> and in 2015, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4480409/">256 outbreaks</a> of highly pathogenic avian influenza were recorded.</p>
<h2>What should Nigeria be doing differently?</h2>
<p>The disease may become endemic in Nigeria if circulation continuous and detection of the same strain is established. If a disease is constantly circulating in reservoir hosts it will lead to spill over to poultry and humans. </p>
<p>If that’s the case, biosecurity measures must be stepped up. For instance, the government may consider other measures in addition to biosecurity. This may include controlled and regulated vaccination. There are vaccines. They have been <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24026475/">used in</a> Egypt, China, Indonesia with a mixture of failure and success. Vaccines only reduce the impact of the disease but do not prevent infection or re-infection.</p>
<p>Those in the agricultural sector also need to introduce effective control measures at live bird markets and in the way poultry is traded more broadly. Measures would include restructuring the live bird markets, discouraging the mixing of species, the introduction of plastic cages and crates that can be easily cleaned and disinfected. Frequent cleaning, disinfection and decontamination of live bird market environments is very important for disease containment.</p>
<h2>You’ve described as Nigeria was an “ecological sink” for such viruses. Please explain</h2>
<p>In the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-13287-y">research</a> that examined the outbreak of the 2015-2016 bird flu, we found that west Africa was the epicentre of the virus that was later found in other sub-Saharan African regions – the central, eastern and southern African countries. In particular, within west Africa, Nigeria was the most important point of virus introduction and a central hub in the virus spread. </p>
<p>Bird flu is mostly introduced into Nigeria through the presence and activities of wild birds. For instance, in the 2015-2016 outbreak <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-13287-y">we identified</a> four virus introductions into Nigeria likely from east Europe.</p>
<p>These birds travel across continents and countries through multiple international migratory routes, in much the same way that airlines move across the world on designated routes. Three major wild bird migratory routes from Asia and Europe transverse Nigeria. That’s good news for biodiversity but bad news for disease control.</p>
<p>Bird watchers and ornithologists <a href="https://www.environewsnigeria.com/how-bird-migrated-from-germany-to-nigeria-in-122-days/">have found</a> that migratory birds from Europe move into Nigeria every year during the cold harmattan season (November - February). This is the peak time for avian flu outbreaks. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-13287-y">Nigeria is</a> the most affected African country in terms of the frequency and burden of avian flu. This makes it the destination “sink” of the strains that may be circulating in Europe at any given time. </p>
<p>Because we can’t change birds’ routes or habits, it would be up to Nigerian authorities to make sure it keeps its local birds and people as safe as possible. This would include surveillance of wild birds at wetlands and the monitoring of viral infections. Early detection is vital for early warning, risk analysis and control of infection.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201056/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Clement Meseko receives funding from National Veterinary Research Institute. He is affiliated with OIE/FAO (OFFLU) Expert Working Group on Animal Influenza.</span></em></p>Bird flu has been recurring in Africa since 2006 and Nigeria is heavily affected. High-level biosecurity measures are required to keep people and animals safe.Clement Meseko, Veterinarian & Virologist, National Veterinary Research Institute, Vom, JosLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2002042023-03-16T12:31:51Z2023-03-16T12:31:51ZAs bird flu continues to spread in the US and worldwide, what’s the risk that it could start a human pandemic? 4 questions answered<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515263/original/file-20230314-2882-8ul2k1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C8243%2C5475&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Bird flu is transmitted mainly by wild birds, like these snow geese in Ruthsberg, Md., in January 2023.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/snow-geese-take-off-from-a-field-in-ruthsburg-maryland-on-news-photo/1246532637">Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>An outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza that started in 2021 has become the largest bird flu outbreak in history, both in the U.S. and worldwide. In the U.S. the virus has led to the destruction of millions of commercially raised chickens, turkeys, ducks and geese, and has killed thousands of wild birds.</em> </p>
<p><em>Many virologists are concerned that this virus could spill over to humans and cause a new human pandemic. University of Colorado Boulder virologists Sara Sawyer, Emma Worden-Sapper and Sharon Wu summarize the compelling story of H5N1 and why scientists are closely watching the outbreak.</em></p>
<h2>1. Is this virus a serious threat to humans?</h2>
<p>H5N1 is a specific type of influenza virus, predominantly harbored by birds, that was first detected on a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1863-2378.2012.01497.x">goose farm in China in 1996</a>. Recently it has begun infecting an exploding diversity of bird and mammalian species around the globe. </p>
<p>The virus is highly pathogenic to birds, meaning that infections often cause extreme symptoms, including death. But its impact on humans is complicated. There have been relatively few human infections detected – <a href="https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/cumulative-number-of-confirmed-human-cases-for-avian-influenza-a(h5n1)-reported-to-who-2003-2022-5-jan-2023">fewer than 900 documented</a> globally over several decades – but about half of those infected individuals have died. </p>
<p>The good news about H5N1 for humans is that it currently <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/h5n1-human-infections.htm">doesn’t spread well</a> between people. Most people who have contracted H5N1 have gotten it directly from interacting with <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/influenza-(avian-and-other-zoonotic)">infected poultry</a> – specifically chickens, turkeys, ducks and geese, which often are raised in close quarters on large commercial farms. </p>
<p>There are only <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/h5n1-human-infections.htm">a small handful of examples</a> of human-to-human spread. Because H5N1 doesn’t spread well between people, and because direct infection of humans by infected birds is still relatively rare, H5N1 has not yet erupted into a human epidemic or pandemic.</p>
<h2>2. Why is this outbreak suddenly getting so much attention?</h2>
<p>The first reason that so much attention is being paid to bird flu right now is that currently H5N1 is causing the <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/environment/20230113-largest-global-bird-flu-outbreak-in-history-shows-no-sign-of-slowing">largest “bird pandemic” ever recorded</a>. A certain viral variant that arose in 2020, called H5N1 2.3.4.4b, is driving this outbreak. </p>
<p>In agricultural poultry flocks, if a few birds test positive for H5N1, the whole <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/avian-in-birds.htm">flock is killed</a> regardless of symptoms or infection status. <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/02/05/1153434486/eggs-prices-drop-but-the-threat-from-avian-flu-isnt-over-yet">Higher prices for eggs</a> and <a href="https://money.com/turkeys-cost-more-thanksgiving/">poultry meat</a> in the U.S. are one result. The Biden administration is considering <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/06/us/politics/bird-flu-vaccine-chickens.html">vaccinating farmed poultry flocks</a>, but the logistics could be quite complicated.</p>
<p>The second reason for increased attention is that H5N1 is now infecting more bird and mammalian species than ever before. The virus has been detected in a broad array of <a href="https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/animal-disease-information/avian/avian-influenza/hpai-2022/2022-hpai-wild-birds">wild birds</a> and in <a href="https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/animal-disease-information/avian/avian-influenza/hpai-2022/2022-hpai-mammals">diverse mammals</a>, including badgers, black bears, bobcats, coyotes, ferrets, fisher cats, foxes, leopards, opossums, pigs, skunks and sea lions. </p>
<p>As H5N1 infects more species, it also increases its geographical range and produces more viral variants that could have new biological properties.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515270/original/file-20230314-3867-pgw6hr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A dead pelican on a beach, shown from its feet." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515270/original/file-20230314-3867-pgw6hr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515270/original/file-20230314-3867-pgw6hr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515270/original/file-20230314-3867-pgw6hr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515270/original/file-20230314-3867-pgw6hr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515270/original/file-20230314-3867-pgw6hr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515270/original/file-20230314-3867-pgw6hr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515270/original/file-20230314-3867-pgw6hr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Peru decreed a 90-day health emergency in December 2022 after more than 13,000 pelicans died on its beaches, possibly infected with H5N1.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/dead-pelican-is-seen-on-the-beach-in-lima-peru-on-december-news-photo/1245471384">Klebher Vasquez/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The third and most worrisome reason that this virus is getting so much press is that H5N1 now seems to be transmitting well between individuals of at least one mammalian species. In late 2022, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.2023.1317">mammal-to-mammal spread</a> occurred in Spain in <a href="https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2023.28.3.2300001">farmed minks</a>. H5N1 spread very efficiently between the minks and caused clinical signs of illness and death in the mink populations where it was detected. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/06/americas/bird-flu-sea-lion-deaths-peru-intl-latam/index.html">Sea lions in Peru</a> are also succumbing to H5N1 virus in massive numbers. It hasn’t been confirmed definitively whether the sea lions are spreading the virus to each other or are contracting it from birds or H5N1-infected water.</p>
<p>Here’s the key question: If H5N1 can achieve spread in minks and possibly sea lions, why not humans? We are also mammals. It is true that the farmed minks were confined in close quarters, like chickens on a poultry farm, so that may have contributed. But humans also live in high densities in many cities around the world, providing the virus similar tinder should a human-compatible variant arise.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XiqG7_z5b9M?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The World Health Organization is closely monitoring and analyzing the spread of H5N1 in mammals.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>3. What features could help H5N1 spread well in humans?</h2>
<p>Birds experience influenza as a gastrointestinal infection and spread flu predominantly through <a href="https://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/downloads/animal_diseases/ai/wild-bird-strategic-plan.pdf">defecating in water</a>. By contrast, humans experience influenza as a respiratory infection and spread it by breathing and coughing. </p>
<p>Over the centuries, some of these avian influenza viruses have been passed from birds to humans and other mammalian species, although this is a relatively rare event.</p>
<p>This is because bird influenza viruses must mutate in several ways <a href="https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.18491">to infect mammals efficiently</a>. The most important mutational changes affect the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1005519">tissue tropism</a> of the virus – its ability to infect a specific part of the body.</p>
<p>Avian flu viruses have evolved to infect cells of the intestine, while human flu viruses have evolved to infect cells of the respiratory tract. However, sometimes a flu virus can acquire mutations that allow it to infect cells in a different part of the body. </p>
<p>Which cells influenza infects is partially dictated by the specific receptor that it binds. Receptors are the molecules on the surface of host cells that a virus exploits to enter those cells. Once viruses are in cells, they may be able to <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ade6985">produce copies of themselves</a>, at which point an infection has been achieved.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515273/original/file-20230314-2488-xzd7zs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Graphic showing precautions for handling poultry to avoid bird flu infection." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515273/original/file-20230314-2488-xzd7zs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515273/original/file-20230314-2488-xzd7zs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515273/original/file-20230314-2488-xzd7zs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515273/original/file-20230314-2488-xzd7zs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515273/original/file-20230314-2488-xzd7zs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515273/original/file-20230314-2488-xzd7zs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515273/original/file-20230314-2488-xzd7zs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bird flu infections in people are rare, but possible. Most reported bird flu infections in people have happened after unprotected contact with infected birds or contaminated surfaces.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pdf/avianflu/avian-flu-transmission.pdf">USCDC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Both human and bird influenza viruses use receptors called sialic acids that are common on the surfaces of cells. Bird influenza viruses, such as H5N1, use a version called α2,3-linked sialic acid, while human flu viruses use α2,6-linked sialic acid – the predominant variant in the human upper respiratory tract. Thus, to become efficient at infecting humans, H5N1 would likely need to mutate to use α2,6-linked sialic acid as its receptor. </p>
<p>This is a concern because studies have shown that only <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/JVI.02737-09">one or two mutations</a> in the viral genome are enough to switch receptor binding from α2,3-linked sialic acid to the human α2,6-linked sialic acid. That doesn’t seem like much of a genetic obstacle.</p>
<h2>4. Why don’t we make a vaccine just in case?</h2>
<p>With avian influenza viruses, it is not possible to make effective human vaccines in advance, because we don’t know exactly what the genetics of the virus will be if it starts to spread well in humans. Remember that the seasonal flu vaccine must be remade every year, even though the general types of flu viruses that it protects against are the same, because the specific genetic variants that affect humans change from year to year. </p>
<p>Right now, the best way people can protect themselves from H5N1 is to avoid contact with infected birds. For more information about prevention, especially for people who keep domesticated birds or are bird-watching hobbyists, the Centers for Disease Control has a list of guidelines for <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/prevention.htm#anchor_1647619251544">avoiding H5N1 and other bird flu viruses</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/200204/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sara Sawyer is a co-founder of Darwin Biosciences. She receives funding from the National Institutes of Health.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emma Worden-Sapper and Sharon Wu do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Avian influenza viruses have evolved to infect birds, but the current H5N1 outbreak is also infecting a wide range of mammals. This suggests that it could mutate into forms that threaten humans.Sara Sawyer, Professor of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of Colorado BoulderEmma Worden-Sapper, PhD Student in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of Colorado BoulderSharon Wu, PhD Student in Interdisciplinary Quantitative Biology and Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of Colorado BoulderLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1926462022-11-27T07:28:46Z2022-11-27T07:28:46ZChickens from live poultry markets in Nigeria could be bad for your health - scientists explain why<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493605/original/file-20221104-23-49042z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4000%2C2670&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Antimicrobial use in poultry is threatening the health of consumers in Nigeria.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/chickens-standing-on-passenger-seaters-arrive-in-lagos-from-news-photo/459284175?phrase=poultry%20farm%20in%20nigeria&adppopup=true">Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many livestock farmers treat their animals with antimicrobial medications. These are drugs that target bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites. But using them the wrong way can have unwanted results. Animals are known to develop resistance to the drugs. This resistance has knock-on effects on animal and human health.</p>
<p>We wanted to find out whether this was likely to be a problem in Nigeria’s poultry markets, where live birds are sold. </p>
<p>Multidrug resistance in live chickens is a huge concern to public health globally. When resistance develops, drugs become less effective against the disease they are designed to kill. Resistance can spread to and develop in people too, if they eat food carrying multidrug resistant bacteria. The consequence could be that treatment for a disease fails, or an infection recurs. The result might be a longer stay in hospital and <a href="https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ipid/2014/541340/">higher costs for treatment</a>.</p>
<p>The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that antimicrobial resistance has the potential to be the next pandemic. Each year, over 700,000 people die of antimicrobial resistance – slightly over the number of global deaths related to <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/hiv-aids">HIV</a> deaths in 2021 or <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/malaria">malaria</a> in 2020. It’s been estimated that antimicrobial resistance causes more than <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35065702/">27.3 deaths per 100,000 population</a> in sub-sahara Africa. </p>
<p><a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-50672-8_43">Our research</a> looked at the way poultry vendors used antimicrobials and what hygiene measures they took to prevent diseases in their chickens. The research took place in poultry markets in south-west Nigeria. We also set out to establish the presence of multidrug resistant <em>Eschericia coli</em> (<em>E. coli</em>) in live chickens from the markets. <em>E. coli</em> is a common bacteria found in chickens and their environment. </p>
<p>Five of the markets we visited were registered and three were unregistered. They all operated much the same. </p>
<p>We found that antimicrobial use and hygiene practices were poor among chicken vendors in the markets we studied. Vendors gave antimicrobials to both sick and healthy chickens, without veterinarians’ prescriptions. Vendors also treated chickens with drugs intended for humans – particularly antibiotics such as tetracycline and chloramphenicol – which they purchased from pharmacies. These practices may have a detrimental effect on the effectiveness of antibiotics for treating bacterial infections in humans.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Woman pays money to chicken seller in chicken market. Photo by: Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493606/original/file-20221104-17-spqo8n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493606/original/file-20221104-17-spqo8n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493606/original/file-20221104-17-spqo8n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493606/original/file-20221104-17-spqo8n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493606/original/file-20221104-17-spqo8n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493606/original/file-20221104-17-spqo8n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493606/original/file-20221104-17-spqo8n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Poultry vendors give antimicrobials to both sick and healthy chickens - increasing the risk of multidrug resistance.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/fowl-merchant-collects-money-from-a-buyer-at-onipanu-fowl-news-photo/73171452?phrase=poultry%20market%20in%20nigeria&adppopup=true">from www.gettyimages.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our analysis revealed that 56.3% of faecal samples collected from chickens contained <em>E. coli</em> that were multidrug resistant. We also found extremely high levels of the bacteria were resistant particularly to ceftazidime and imipenem. The WHO classifies these drugs as last resort medicines. They are critically important antimicrobials in human medicine because there are few other options to try if they no longer work. Without options, more lives may be lost to antimicrobial resistance. </p>
<h2>Antimicrobial resistance: a public health risk</h2>
<p>Antimicrobial resistance is a global problem. But low- and middle-income countries including Nigeria are particularly at risk. Their national health systems are often ill-prepared to address the complex causes and complications associated with infections resistant to antimicrobials. The treatment of livestock is poorly managed and may be contributing to the antimicrobial resistance crisis in animals and humans in the country.</p>
<p>To reduce the overuse of antimicrobials in poultry and other livestock, vendors and other stakeholders in the poultry value chain will need better training. Interventions like educational programmes are necessary. The aim would be to encourage responsible use of antimicrobials, to protect the health of animals and humans.</p>
<p>In addition, animal health professionals must assist in developing good policies for antimicrobial use. Livestock owners should ideally consult veterinarians to develop an animal health plan, and should get prescriptions before treating their animals. More trained veterinarians will be required if this is to be achieved.</p>
<p>The government must establish systems and national centres for routine surveillance of antimicrobial use and resistance. </p>
<p>Finally, the national action plan on antimicrobials must consider improved integrated surveillance and diagnostic capacities. Previous surveys in Nigeria have already made <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7238560/">recommendations</a> on keeping drug use in check; their guidance can be considered. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495142/original/file-20221114-14-tj942p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="chickens locked up in two big cages in a market" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495142/original/file-20221114-14-tj942p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495142/original/file-20221114-14-tj942p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495142/original/file-20221114-14-tj942p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495142/original/file-20221114-14-tj942p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495142/original/file-20221114-14-tj942p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495142/original/file-20221114-14-tj942p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495142/original/file-20221114-14-tj942p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Poultry vendors want markets to be more organised and better structured to meet international standards. Photo by: Oluwawemimo Adebowale.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Poultry vendors in our study want the government to close unregistered live bird markets. After the first outbreak of <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2681125/">avian influenza in 2006</a> the government made it compulsory to register poultry farms and live chicken markets. This was to ensure efficient surveillance and early detection of poultry diseases, and accessibility to government interventions. If vendors can consult veterinarians more easily, they are likely to use drugs in a more discriminating way. And registered markets get prompt veterinary responses and services when there are disease outbreaks.</p>
<p>Vendors also want live chicken markets to be more organised and have access to standardised and documented guidelines for hygiene and operations. They want satisfactory processing facilities, and basic amenities to assist them to produce quality chicken products. Amenities like electricity, potable water, good drainage and roads are all lacking in most live chicken markets in Nigeria.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192646/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Oluwawemimo Adebowale does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Indiscriminate antimicrobial use in Nigeria’s poultry value chain is putting people at risk of developing resistance to medicines.Oluwawemimo Adebowale, Researcher in Veterinary Public Health and Preventive Medicine,, Federal University of Agriculture, AbeokutaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1824972022-05-25T20:14:59Z2022-05-25T20:14:59ZAvian influenza: How bird flu affects domestic and wild flocks, and why a One Health approach matters<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465133/original/file-20220524-21-6ngtt3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=80%2C4%2C2852%2C1953&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The strain of H5N1 bird flu identified in Canada, the United States and Europe can cause severe disease and high mortality in domestic poultry.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A strain of avian flu virus is spreading in domestic poultry flocks in Canada, but is not a risk to humans at this point in time.</p>
<p>Avian influenza virus, commonly known as bird flu, is a contagious influenza type A virus that can infect and kill poultry (such as chickens, turkeys, pheasants, quail, domestic ducks, geese and guinea fowl) and wild birds (including migratory birds). </p>
<p>There are at least 16 types of avian influenza virus, which are classified by a combination of two groups of proteins: hemagglutinin or HA, and neuraminidase or NA. This is where the H and N in avian influenza strains come from: they identify specific HA and NA proteins, like the current H5N1 strain causing outbreaks in Europe, the <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/u-s-reports-its-first-human-case-of-h5-bird-flu-1.5881424">United States</a> and <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/avian-flu-is-spreading-across-canadian-poultry-farms-here-s-what-you-need-to-know-1.5853215">Canada</a>. </p>
<p>Types of avian influenza virus are further classified as highly pathogenic (HPAI) or low pathogenicity (LPAI). HPAI viruses — including the current strain of H5N1 — <a href="https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/animal-disease-information/avian/avian-influenza">are extremely infectious, can cause severe disease and high mortality (90-100 per cent) in domesticated poultry</a> and spreads rapidly from flock to flock. </p>
<h2>Avian influenza: Where is it?</h2>
<p>Pathogenicity (the ability to cause disease) is defined in relation to disease severity in domestic poultry. Nonetheless, the reach of avian flu is not limited to this population. H5N1 is spreading in wild bird populations across the globe. <a href="https://www.oie.int/en/document/h5n1-highly-pathogenic-avian-influenza-in-poultry-and-wild-birds-winter-of-2021-2022-with-focus-on-mass-mortality-of-wild-birds-in-uk-and-israel/">Significant outbreaks have been detected in Asia, Africa and Europe since October 2021</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Red chickens at outdoor feeders" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465140/original/file-20220524-24-f7i299.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465140/original/file-20220524-24-f7i299.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465140/original/file-20220524-24-f7i299.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465140/original/file-20220524-24-f7i299.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465140/original/file-20220524-24-f7i299.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465140/original/file-20220524-24-f7i299.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465140/original/file-20220524-24-f7i299.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Domestic poultry can be exposed to avian flu by infected migratory birds.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Steve Helber)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>H5N1 is of immediate national concern in Canada, as migratory birds flock to our shores. The Eurasian strain of H5N1 was detected in Newfoundland in December 2021, and in hunted wild birds in the eastern U.S. in January 2022. Between December 2021 and May 2022, this virus has been detected in <a href="https://inspection.canada.ca/animal-health/terrestrial-animals/diseases/reportable/avian-influenza/hpai-in-canada/status-of-ongoing-avian-influenza-response-by-prov/eng/1640207916497/1640207916934">eight Canadian provinces</a> and <a href="https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/animal-disease-information/avian/avian-influenza/hpai-2022">35 U.S. states</a>.</p>
<h2>Avian influenza and animal health</h2>
<p>Wild birds can be infected with highly pathogenic avian influenza and show no signs of illness. They can carry the disease to new areas when migrating, exposing domestic poultry to the virus. </p>
<p>An <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/migratory-game-bird-hunting/avian-influenza-wild-birds.html">infected bird may show signs</a> including coughing, gasping for air, head swelling and diarrhea. Because influenza viruses in birds can replicate in tissues beyond the respiratory system, infected birds may also display neurological signs including paralysis and tremor. </p>
<p>Once infected, mortality is nearly unavoidable in some bird species, occurring within 24-72 hours. The first sign of infection may sometimes be mass mortality events.</p>
<p>Ramifications of outbreaks are borne by individual farmers and felt throughout the agricultural sector. Where outbreaks occur, it is often the policy to <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-05-06/bird-flu-outbreak-nears-worst-ever-in-u-s-with-37-million-dead">cull all poultry</a>, whether infected or healthy, to help contain the spread of the virus. This represents <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/fraser-valley-avian-flu-1.6462000">heavy economic losses for farmers</a>, which can have a long-lasting impact on their livelihoods and well-being. </p>
<p>Of course, avian influenza virus does not differentiate between farm and field; it may decimate wild bird populations in addition to cultivated flocks, and there have been reports of <a href="https://www.oie.int/en/document/h5n1-highly-pathogenic-avian-influenza-in-poultry-and-wild-birds-winter-of-2021-2022-with-focus-on-mass-mortality-of-wild-birds-in-uk-and-israel/">mass mortality incidents in the United Kingdom and Israel in 2021 and 2022</a>. In addition to disrupting the local ecology, including often delicately calibrated food webs, such outbreaks occur at the detriment of biodiversity.</p>
<h2>Avian influenza virus and environmental health</h2>
<p>The effects of climate change on disease ecology are impossible to ignore. Migratory birds — especially waterfowl — are a <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/avian-in-birds.htm">natural reservoir for avian influenza virus</a>. As birds migrate and mingle with other individuals and flocks, viruses “drift” and “shift,” meaning that viral genetic material may change in unexpected ways. </p>
<p>In the context of <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.20506/rst.27.2.1821">avian flu and climate change</a>, where migration routes and seasons are changing, previously separate migratory bird populations are now encountering one another, increasing the probability that new virus variants will emerge. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465137/original/file-20220524-11834-snn7an.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Birds in a grassy area with more birds flying overhead" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465137/original/file-20220524-11834-snn7an.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465137/original/file-20220524-11834-snn7an.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465137/original/file-20220524-11834-snn7an.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465137/original/file-20220524-11834-snn7an.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465137/original/file-20220524-11834-snn7an.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465137/original/file-20220524-11834-snn7an.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465137/original/file-20220524-11834-snn7an.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cranes fly at the Hula Lake conservation area in January 2022 in northern Israel, where bird flu has killed thousands of migratory cranes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Avian influenza virus and human health</h2>
<p>Several avian influenza subtypes, including the H5 subtype, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390%2Fpathogens10050630">have been shown to cross species, travelling from birds into mammals — including dogs, cats, swine and humans</a>. It is important to note that these events are infrequent and that <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/avian-in-humans.htm">avian influenza virus does not currently pose a health risk to humans</a>. </p>
<p>Although close to <a href="https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news/item/influenza-a-(h5)---united-kingdom-of-great-britain-and-northern-ireland">880 human infections and over 450 deaths</a> have been attributed to previous strains of H5N1, there have only been two known cases of <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2022/s0428-avian-flu.html">human infection with the current circulating strain</a>. However, there is a concern that, through mutations and genetic exchanges, H5N1 avian influenza virus may gain the ability to transmit from birds to humans and possibly from humans to humans. </p>
<p>Because of avian flu’s potential to spread rapidly throughout an animal population, a robust surveillance program to monitor the evolution and diversity of avian influenza viruses for preventive action is an essential public health measure.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465141/original/file-20220524-12-1ibzmd.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Many white chickens at a chicken farm" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465141/original/file-20220524-12-1ibzmd.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465141/original/file-20220524-12-1ibzmd.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465141/original/file-20220524-12-1ibzmd.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465141/original/file-20220524-12-1ibzmd.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465141/original/file-20220524-12-1ibzmd.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465141/original/file-20220524-12-1ibzmd.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465141/original/file-20220524-12-1ibzmd.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">There is an urgent need for governments to invest in local and global initiatives that focus on the human-animal-environment interface of disease.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Avian influenza virus and One Health</h2>
<p>Management and control of avian influenza virus requires a <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/one-health">One Health approach</a>, which places equal importance on measures that address avian influenza virus from animal, human and environmental health perspectives. </p>
<p>Climate change, human population growth and socio-economic factors have long-lasting impacts on environmental health. A cross-sectoral approach for communication and preparedness responses is needed to co-ordinate surveillance and biosecurity measures that will control outbreaks. A <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390%2Ftropicalmed4020088">One Health approach</a> will help ensure environmental conservation obligations are met and the health of people, livestock and wildlife is protected.</p>
<p>There is an urgent need for governments to invest in local and global initiatives that focus on the <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/zoonoses">human-animal-environment interface of disease</a>. One such investment includes funding higher education programs in One Health. These programs will prepare the next generation of Canadians to address societal grand challenges — like pandemic preparedness — with a One Health lens, enabling the formation of teams whose expertise transcends disciplinary boundaries. </p>
<p>Now, more than ever, we need to ensure that both local and global One Health initiatives are developed as a core component of planning preparedness for future pandemics.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/182497/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shayan Sharif receives funding from Food from Thought, Canadian Poultry Research Council, Egg Farmers of Canada and Saskatchewan Chicken Industry. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jeffrey Wichtel is President-Elect of the Deans Council Agriculture, Food and Veterinary Medicine</span></em></p>Avian influenza virus — or bird flu — can infect domestic poultry such as chickens and turkeys, as well as wild birds. The H5N1 strain has been identified in Canada.Shayan Sharif, Professor of Immunology and Associate Dean, Research and Graduate Studies, University of GuelphJeffrey J. Wichtel, Dean, Ontario Veterinary College, University of GuelphLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1719252021-11-22T13:28:21Z2021-11-22T13:28:21ZTalking turkey! How the Thanksgiving bird got its name (and then lent it to film flops)<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/432923/original/file-20211119-12581-1pzk5rn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=35%2C0%2C4000%2C2628&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Not everyone is a fan of Turkey Day.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/free-range-bronze-turkeys-royalty-free-image/1282776886?adppopup=true">E4C via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>“Meleagris Gallopavo Day” is a bit of a mouthful. Which may be why this Thanksgiving, most people will opt for the less ornithologically precise “Turkey Day.”</p>
<p>And just as turkey is a versatile meat – think of those leftover options! – so too is the word “turkey,” which can refer to everything from the bird itself to a <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/turkey-2915">populous Eurasian country</a> to <a href="https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/guide/worst-movies-of-all-time/">movie flops</a>.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://sasn.rutgers.edu/about-us/faculty-staff/jack-lynch">scholar who studies word origins</a>, I love “talking turkey” – not only how the bird came to be named, but also how the word has evolved over time. But let’s start with what has become the centerpiece of most Thanksgiving Day dinners.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/animals/bird/mega/all.html">North American turkey</a> – the kind that many families will be carving up this Thanksgiving – was being <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/taming-turkey">domesticated in Mexico some 2,000 years ago</a>.</p>
<p>Europeans glimpsed their first turkeys around 1500, when Spanish explorers arrived in the Americas and brought them back to the mother country. By the 1520s, turkeys were <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/11/turkey-history-world-thanksgiving/417849/">being bred in Spain</a>, and soon the delicacy was appearing on rich people’s tables across Europe.</p>
<h2>Oh, dinde!</h2>
<p>But what to call the new import? Europeans in the New World were overwhelmed by the new plants and animals they saw, and often used familiar names for unfamiliar species. The Spanish, for instance, thought turkeys looked like peacocks, so they used the Spanish word “<a href="https://www.spanishdict.com/translate/pavo">pavos</a>.” The French called them “poules d’Indes,” or Indian chickens, later shortened to “<a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dinde">dinde</a>.”</p>
<p>To the English, the newly discovered American birds looked like the guineafowl – a bird native to Africa but which was introduced into Europe by Arab and Turkish traders in the 14th and 15th centuries. </p>
<p>And it is this point in the story that the modern-day turkey gets its name.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/history/ottomanempire_1.shtml">Ottoman Empire</a> was then at its height. Ethnic Turks, based in Constantinople (now Istanbul), ran the empire that spanned the Near East, Middle East and North Africa. As a result, to many Europeans, anyone from “the East” was a “Turk.”</p>
<p>Because Ottomans dominated trade in the eastern Mediterranean, a lot of produce coming to Europe was seen as “Turkish.” So a precious stone from Persia was named “Turkey stone,” and the French version of that name, “pierre turquoise,” gave us the word “<a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/turquoise">turquoise</a>.”</p>
<p>In the same way, African guineafowl, introduced by Turkish traders, became a “turkey-cock” or “turkey-hen.” Over time, this was shortened to just “turkey.”</p>
<h2>Now that’s a feast!</h2>
<p>For as long as the New World turkeys have been in Europe, they’ve been featured in celebratory meals. The English word first appears in print in <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=aTJRAQAAMAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=Dugdale%20Origines%20Juridiciales&pg=PA131#v=onepage&q&f=false">an account of a banquet</a> hosted by politician John Prideaux in 1555: The menu included 38 red deer, 43 pheasants, 50 quince pies, 63 swans, 114 pigeons, 120 rabbits, 840 larks, 325 gallons of Bordeaux wine and “Turkies 2. rated at 4s. a piece.”</p>
<p>History’s most famous turkey dinner, though, was <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-the-first-thanksgiving-dinner-actually-looked-like-85714">served in Plymouth Plantation in 1621</a>, as 50 Pilgrims who survived a year of brutal hardship joined 90 Native Americans for a three-day feast. Turkey wasn’t the only dish being served. Writing in his <a href="https://www.mass.gov/info-details/bradfords-manuscript-of-plimoth-plantation">History of Plymouth Plantation</a>, Governor William Bradford noted that Native Americans brought “codd, & bass, & other fish,” and others brought “water foule” and venison. But he was especially impressed with the “great store of wild Turkies.”</p>
<p>The bird has become so associated with harvest-time celebratory dinners that we’ve been calling Thanksgiving “Turkey Day” since at least 1870.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the word has continued to find new uses, showing up with <a href="https://greensdictofslang.com/entry/hwibi6q">dozens of meanings</a>. In 1839, the Southern Literary Messenger – a magazine edited by Edgar Allen Poe – reported on a new kind of dance, called the “turkey-trot” from its jerking motions.</p>
<p>In 1920, New York’s Department of Health reported that “Some addicts voluntarily stop taking opiates and ‘suffer it out’ … which in their slang is called taking ‘<a href="https://greensdictofslang.com/entry/5k7gmoa">cold turkey</a>.‘”</p>
<p>The turkey’s reputation for stupidity prompted other meanings. The legendary gossip columnist <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/walter-winchell-biographical-timeline/15619/#podcastsubscribe">Walter Winchell</a> told readers of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1993/11/25/opinion/click-click-gobble-gobble.html">Vanity Fair in 1927</a> about some new showbiz slang: “‘A turkey,’” he reported, “is a third rate production.” </p>
<p>Since then, movies that flop with the critics or at the box office have been called turkeys.</p>
<p>Another disparaging sense arrived in the 1950s, when turkey became a name for “a stupid, slow, inept, or otherwise worthless person.” That, in turn, probably led to the rise of the “<a href="https://www.discogs.com/release/3378674-Ohio-Players-Jive-Turkey-Part-1-Streakin-Cheek-To-Cheek">jive turkey</a>,” which first showed up in African American speech in the early 1970s, defined by slang <a href="https://spitalfieldslife.com/2011/02/24/jonathon-green-lexicographer/">lexicographer Jonathon Green</a> as “<a href="https://greensdictofslang.com/entry/kenrl3q#uv4asfq">an insincere, deceitful, dishonest person</a>.”</p>
<h2>Jive or straight talking?</h2>
<p>And what about “talk turkey”? Well, that can mean quite contradictory things.</p>
<p>One dictionary from 1859 defines it as “To talk in a silly manner, talk nonsense.” A similar meaning is attached to another turkey-related word, “<a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gobbledygook">gobbledygook</a>.”</p>
<p>Another definition found in the 1889 “Americanisms, Old & New” had “<a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=OQY1AQAAMAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=%22when%20plain%20English%20would%22%20%22turkey%22&pg=PA543#v=onepage&q&f=false">talking turkey</a>” meaning “To use high-sounding words, when plain English would do equally well or better.”</p>
<p>[<em>Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?source=inline-weeklybest">Sign up for our weekly newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>The most familiar meaning of “talking turkey,” in which it is a stand-in for “straight talk,” is often said to come from a once popular joke. A white man and an American Indian, the story goes, spend a day hunting together and manage to bag a turkey and a somewhat less bountiful buzzard. The devious white man proposes a “heads-I-win-tails-you-lose” division of the spoils. “I’ll take the turkey, and you the buzzard,” he says, “or, if you prefer, you take the buzzard, and I’ll take the turkey.” The frustrated American Indian replies – usually in some version of would-be comic pidgin English – “You talk all buzzard to me, and don’t talk turkey.”</p>
<p>Those who <a href="http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-tal1.htm">study word histories</a> are skeptical of stories like this, since most are invented after the fact. More likely, “talk turkey” came from pleasant conversation at Thanksgiving dinner, or maybe negotiations between Native Americans and European colonists over the cost of poultry. Whatever the origin, though, when we “talk turkey,” we’re engaging in the kind of straightforward, honest speech the scheming hunter denied his hunting partner.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/171925/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jack Lynch does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>From ‘turkey trot’ to ‘going cold turkey,’ the centerpiece to many Thanksgiving dinners has lent its name to many things. But it also borrowed its name from elsewhere.Jack Lynch, Professor of English, Rutgers University - NewarkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1707262021-10-28T15:26:54Z2021-10-28T15:26:54ZClimate change is already hitting Africa’s livestock - here’s how to address the risks<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428789/original/file-20211027-25-z30sli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A herd of cows returning from a drinking hole in Amboseli, Kenya.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source"> Buena Vista Images/GettyImages</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s a common scene across many African countries’ rural areas: cows grazing peacefully. But, by 2050, heat stress induced by climate change may drastically alter this familiar picture.</p>
<p><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/gcb.15825">Findings</a> from the International Livestock Research Institute show that, unless massive adaptation measures are put in place, the number of extreme heat events driven by climate change – especially in the continent’s tropics – will increase. Poultry and pigs <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/gcb.15825">already face</a> major heat stress challenges in many regions of the tropics where they are currently raised. The same is true for all five major domesticated species in large swathes of West Africa, where heat stress is likely to make it nearly impossible for livestock to be kept outdoors. </p>
<p>Heat stress is likely to be only the beginning of the problems. Not enough is known about likely future impacts of increased climate variability on feed and forages, grazing area and water, or about shifts in climate-sensitive diseases and disease vectors and their impacts on livestock.</p>
<p>Even <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.15825">under</a> relatively mild but realistic climate scenarios, it will be necessary to reconfigure and relocate agricultural systems. This will have profound consequences for people’s nutrition and well-being. Livelihoods will be threatened. The livestock sector <a href="https://www.giz.de/en/downloads/Future%20scenarios%20for%20livestock%20systems%20in%20Africa_CCAFS_2020.pdf">contributes</a> about 30-50% of agricultural GDP and supports the food security and livelihoods of about one-third of Africa’s population, or about 350 million people.</p>
<p>Livestock tends to be viewed merely as part of the climate change problem. Research focuses on mitigating the harms livestock causes. Some of these harms are very real: livestock emissions, particularly from cattle, <a href="https://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/197623/icode/">are responsible for</a> a significant fraction of the gases that contribute to global warming worldwide. But sub-Saharan Africa <a href="https://www.fao.org/gleam/results/en/">accounts</a> for only a small part of those emissions.</p>
<p>In the developing world, these harms are more than balanced by the good they do. Livestock provides livelihoods, nutrition and cultural capital. How, then, do we adapt to the challenges the sector faces and capitalise on the opportunities it presents? </p>
<h2>Threats to livestock</h2>
<p>Projections <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/10568/111738">show</a> that, in the coming years, heat stress in animals will occur more frequently and for longer periods. This will affect milk and meat productivity for cattle, small ruminants (like goats and sheep), pigs and poultry across East Africa. This will make much of the region unsuitable for exotic pig, poultry and cattle production – animals whose productivity is easily compromised by heat stress.</p>
<p>Rising heat and humidity are already <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/10568/106482">causing a drop</a> in Tanzanian dairy cattle’s milk yields, hitting the income of smallholder dairy farmers.</p>
<p>In Uganda, <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/10568/110342">heat stress levels</a> are high and increasing. By the end of the century over 90% of Ugandan districts will experience severe heat stress, putting the livelihoods of pig producers and sustainability of the pig sector as a whole at risk. The pig sector <a href="https://cgspace.cgiar.org/handle/10568/115255">provides</a> a source of income to more than 2 million households in Uganda, and the country has the highest per capita consumption of pork in east Africa.</p>
<h2>Addressing the risks</h2>
<p>The International Livestock Research Institute has started to address these risks in various ways. </p>
<ul>
<li><p>The <a href="https://cgspace.cgiar.org/handle/10568/105755">Index Based Livestock Insurance programme</a> protects livestock keepers in drought-prone arid and semi-arid lands in Kenya and Ethiopia from climate-related losses. Unlike traditional insurance programmes, which pay out on the loss of the animal, it is tied to climatic conditions – such as the amount of rainfall and distribution of pasture availability – over a season. By tying the payouts to objective criteria, the programme avoids the moral hazards of traditional insurance programmes while giving herders the resources to help their animals survive periods of sustained crisis.</p></li>
<li><p>Rangeland ecology in East and West Africa rationalises land use and protect livelihoods. Community land management programmes help resolve conflicts between land users. </p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-021-00226-8">Recent modelling</a> of heat stress impacts is one of our efforts to understand the impacts of climate change.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Farmers we’re working with are also making the necessary local adaptations.</p>
<p>In Ethiopia’s arid pastoral Afar region, pastoralists are experiencing increased flooding and drought and an overall shift in seasonal weather patterns. In response, they are shifting from large to small ruminants, and changing their grazing and feed management systems. </p>
<p>In Kenya’s central rift valley, farmers who practise mixed crop and dairy farming have begun to experiment with different feed production and preservation strategies to overcome feed shortages in the prolonged dry seasons.</p>
<p>But this is a fraction of what is needed. More must be done to work with governments and help livestock keepers across the continent meet the challenge of adaptation. </p>
<h2>Moving forward</h2>
<p>Building climate-resilient livestock systems to cope with these challenges requires concerted, coordinated action from investors and policymakers at the national and global levels. This will need to be informed by a solid research base that scientists have only started to assemble with the minimal funds allocated so far.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, because of donor priorities, most research attention to date has focused on mitigating the contributions of livestock production to climate change rather than <a href="https://cgspace.cgiar.org/bitstream/handle/10568/101605/climateChangeBrief1.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y">adapting to its consequences</a> – even though the priority in African countries is adaptation. Where there has been adaptation research, it has focused <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/10568/101605">primarily on</a> climate-induced impacts on cropping systems rather than on livestock.</p>
<p>Researchers need to develop a toolbox of effective adaptation practices, technologies and policies that are robust across different scales, priorities and climate futures. They must also work with funders and governments to prioritise investments in the livestock sector. It’s not just technical inputs that are needed, but institutional change in the way that livestock are viewed by funders and governments. This will require a considerable evidence base.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, we are very far from these goals and not nearly enough resources are being devoted to achieving them. Consider that between 2012 and 2017, US$185.8 billion was dedicated to climate-related development projects worldwide, <a href="https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/35495">with only</a> 0.57% (about US$1 billion) devoted to the livestock sector. </p>
<p>The cost of livestock mitigation and adaptation actions for the next five years is estimated in the billions of dollars, much of that to be supported by partners in the form of finance, technology development and transfer and capacity building.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/170726/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Polly Ericksen receives funding from USAID, BMZ, FCDO, the World Bank, and the CGIAR System Council through the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) and the CGIAR Research Program on Livestock AgriFood Systems.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Laura Cramer receives funding from BMZ and the CGIAR System Council through the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). </span></em></p>African livestock keepers need help: without proactive interventions, increasing temperatures will reduce meat and milk production.Polly Ericksen, Program Leader, Sustainable Livestock Systems, International Livestock Research Institute Laura Cramer, Graduate Fellow, International Livestock Research Institute Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1672482021-09-21T12:35:24Z2021-09-21T12:35:24ZMore people are eating bugs – but is it ethical to farm insects for food?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420908/original/file-20210913-17-1y2xw89.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C5%2C3707%2C2551&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An entovegan might happily eat an insect burger like this one, believing that their diet is both sustainable and ethical.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/patron-puts-condiments-on-a-grasshopper-burger-june-4-2014-news-photo/495563797?adppopup=true">Karen Bleier/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>What is the life of a cricket worth? </p>
<p>Insect farming is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1748-5967.12490">a rapidly growing industry</a>, with <a href="https://doi.org/10.3920/JIFF2019.0017">hundreds of companies worldwide</a> rearing insects at <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/su12114567">industrial scales</a>. The global value of insect farming is expected to surpass <a href="https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aba1c1">US$1.18 billion by 2023</a>. </p>
<p>Farmed insects, or “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2020.100376">mini-livestock</a>,” refers to insects such as <a href="https://doi.org/10.3920/JIFF2019.0052">crickets</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1515/znc-2017-0033">mealworms</a> raised for the sole purpose of being sold as food or animal feed. </p>
<p>These are not the fried tarantulas on a stick hawked to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139003339.013">tourists</a> or scorpion lollipops sold as novelties. High-protein <a href="https://doi.org/10.3920/JIFF2019.0052">insect powder</a> can be used in foods from <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jfpp.14601">breads</a> to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-017-0676-0">buns</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-020-04315-7">pasta</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/aocs.12180">protein bars</a>. Such products are already available in countries including the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781526488206">U.S.</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/14657503211030802">Switzerland</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2019.11.005">Finland</a>. </p>
<p>As an entomologist who has studied the <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10061038">potential</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tifs.2015.06.008">promotion of edible insects</a> in new markets, I have seen how much progress has been made <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tifs.2016.08.004">in the past decade</a> in normalizing the idea of eating insects worldwide. Now is the time to evaluate the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tifs.2020.03.040">ethical aspects</a> of insect farming.</p>
<h2>Insects for humanity</h2>
<p>The main motivation for edible insects’ rising popularity is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0051145">environmental</a>. Producing 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of insect protein requires <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-100722-8.00011-5">about 10% of the feed, water and land</a> used for the same amount of beef production, and releases as little as 1% of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0014445">greenhouse gases</a>. Insects have a lower environmental impact <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-015-0931-6">even compared to other meat alternatives like dairy, gluten and mycoprotein</a>. </p>
<p>Raising insects on waste products <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0118785">significantly ups these benefits</a>. <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/foods6100091">Black soldier flies</a> can be raised on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/eea.12940">agriculture byproducts</a> like vegetable peels or spent grains. The larvae are then <a href="https://doi.org/10.3920/JIFF2016.0055">used as feed</a> for fish and poultry, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2016.03.022">recycling waste</a> and reducing reliance on more expensive soymeal and fishmeal feeds. </p>
<p>Besides being big business, insect farms also provide important sources of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forpol.2015.08.012">protein and income</a> for rural households. They can be established cheaply, with little space, and are a boon for smallholder farmers who lack the resources for livestock, all the while sustainably providing feed and fertilizer. </p>
<p>A good example is the “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cois.2020.05.011">Insects for Peace</a>” program that has helped ex-combatants in post-conflict Colombia with their reintegration. The former soldiers have found livelihood farming black soldier flies, which are used as a feed component for livestock. </p>
<h2>Is insect meat cruelty-free?</h2>
<p>An additional bonus is that insects do not evoke much empathy. With exceptions, even vegetarians rarely think twice about swatted mosquitoes, let alone the <a href="https://doi.org/10.3181/00379727-205-43708a">millions of agricultural pests killed</a> when farming crops. </p>
<p>Those who do mind can rest assured that farmed insects lead net-positive lives, with no fear of predators or starvation. Insect welfare is conveniently easy: While cramped, hot, filthy settings in factory farms are cruel for vertebrates, they are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-1910(90)90105-O">ideal</a> for insects like mealworms that thrive when crowded together. One can imagine that there are not many requirements to set up a humane <a href="https://doi.org/10.1142/9789811233654_0015">cockroach farm</a>, though one’s neighbors might disapprove.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421616/original/file-20210916-23-1m0aml3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="View of insects being produced as food by an industry in France." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421616/original/file-20210916-23-1m0aml3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421616/original/file-20210916-23-1m0aml3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421616/original/file-20210916-23-1m0aml3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421616/original/file-20210916-23-1m0aml3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421616/original/file-20210916-23-1m0aml3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421616/original/file-20210916-23-1m0aml3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421616/original/file-20210916-23-1m0aml3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Scholars and advocates believe that the mass slaughter of insects should be done in the most humane way.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/view-of-insects-produced-by-micronutris-a-company-selling-news-photo/158774390?adppopup=true">Remy Gabalda/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The slaughter of insects is another issue.</p>
<p>Recent <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2514848620945321">surveys of U.K. insect farmers</a> found many are concerned about insect pain perception and providing their mini-livestock a “good death.” The most common slaughter methods large-scale insect farmers use are <a href="https://doi.org/10.3920/978-90-8686-784-4_38">freezing or freeze-drying</a>, with the assumption that the cold-blooded insects will humanely fall asleep and never wake up.</p>
<p>While insects <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0092-8674(03)00272-1">can and do sense physical pain</a>, they likely do not do so consciously. Invertebrate neurologist <a href="https://www.dal.ca/faculty/science/psychology_neuroscience/faculty-staff/our-faculty/shelley-adamo.html">Shelley Adamo</a> notes that many insect behaviors are “<a href="https://doi.org/10.4039/tce.2019.49">incongruent</a>” with pain as mammals experience it, citing reports of insects walking normally on broken legs or mantids mating while their partner eats them alive. Entomologist <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/CH-Eisemann-5544335">Craig H Eisemann</a>’s influential review of the field, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01963580">Do Insects Feel Pain?</a>,” concluded that they are missing too many neurological, chemical and behavioral signs for a pain state.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, scholars such as Eisemann and other advocates agree that insects should be farmed and killed <a href="https://doi.org/10.3920/JIFF2019.x004">with the assumption that they do feel pain</a>. That means the slaughter method should be as quick and painless as possible.</p>
<p>While certainly less potentially painful than <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2018.1468731">boiling</a>, as extreme heat is known to induce <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/dvdy.22737">pain responses</a> in insects, freezing is slow. Shredding is a popular alternative: At their small size, insects can be reduced to powder almost instantaneously, before they could sense any pain. Current surveys suggest <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3655">public perception</a> of pulverization is still negative compared with freezing, but insect farmers increasingly view it as the more <a href="https://doi.org/10.3920/978-90-8686-784-4_38">humane choice</a>.</p>
<p>The low probability that farmed insects suffer pain, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-018-0066-9">if they can “suffer” at all</a>, combined with the environmental and social benefits of insect farming, caused philosopher <a href="https://philosophy.columbian.gwu.edu/chris-meyers">Chris Meyers</a> to argue that eating insects is not only morally acceptable but also <a href="https://doi.org/10.5840/swphilreview201329113">morally good</a>. </p>
<p>This idea gave rise to the term “<a href="https://doi.org/10.3920/978-90-8686-892-6_43">entovegan</a>.” Like pescatarians follow a vegetarian diet but still eat seafood, entovegans happily eat arthropods, secure in the knowledge that their diet is both sustainable and ethical. </p>
<h2>How much are insect lives worth?</h2>
<p>What gives some strict vegans pause is the sheer number of insects involved. </p>
<p>In a 2020 preprint, animal welfare activist <a href="https://www.eaglobal.org/speakers/abraham-rowe/">Abraham Rowe</a> calculates that <a href="https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/nh6k3">1 trillion to 1.2 trillion individual insects</a> are farmed annually for food and feed, not including harvested wild insects. On average, 79 billion to 94 billion farmed insects are alive on farms globally in any given day, compared with only about <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0262-4079(15)60556-5">22 billion chickens</a>, Earth’s most popular meat. </p>
<p>So, how valuable is an insect’s life compared with a plant’s or a bacterium’s? Capacity for consciousness is a popular metric for determining if an organism has <a href="https://doi.org/10.51291/2377-7478.1583">moral standing</a>, even though there is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/nous.12351">no agreement</a> on how to actually measure that.</p>
<p>[<em>Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/weekly-highlights-61?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=weeklybest">Sign up for our weekly newsletter</a>.] </p>
<p>If one assumes, hypothetically, that insects are 0.1% as sentient as cows, or that the probability that insects can suffer is 0.1%, then killing 1,000 crickets has a similar ethical footprint as killing one cow. That may seem generous, yet in his guide “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/aesa/saz011">How to Reply to Some Ethical Objections to Entomophagy</a>,” philosopher <a href="https://www.bobfischer.net/">Bob Fisher</a> calculates that one cow produces as much meat as 900,000 crickets. </p>
<p>The math changes, however, when one considers how many animals die in agricultural fields: Conservative estimates place at least 10 million invertebrates per acre of crops at risk from pesticides, as well as thousands of small, undeniably conscious vertebrates like <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9833.2007.00382.x">mice and rabbits</a> at risk from mechanical harvesters. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10806-015-9599-y.pdf">This math</a> adds millions of deaths not only to traditional meat production through the fields of feed, but also to almost any cultivated crops, including soy. To quote biologists <a href="https://ib.berkeley.edu/people/directory/detail/6624/">Charles Nicoll</a> and <a href="https://academictree.org/physiology/peopleinfo.php?pid=757003">Sharon Russell</a>, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.3181/00379727-205-43708a">There is no such thing as a bloodless veggieburger</a>.”</p>
<p>Fisher calculated that the number of insects killed to produce a plant-based diet or an insect-based diet <a href="https://doi.org/10.3920/JIFF2020.0061">are about the same</a>, meaning entoveganism and veganism are in that sense equivalent. Eating insects raised on organic wastes, all but eliminating the environmental and animal death costs of plant farming, may be the best option of them all.</p>
<p>The rise in insect farming means questions about insect sentience and slaughter are no longer just philosophical: The well-being of trillions of creatures is at stake.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/167248/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matan Shelomi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Insect farming is growing in popularity as an alternative to traditional livestock and feed production. A scholar evaluates what that means in terms of trillions of insect lives.Matan Shelomi, Associate Professor of Entomology, National Taiwan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1635522021-07-05T06:48:37Z2021-07-05T06:48:37ZNational plan to allow battery cages until 2036 favours cheap eggs over animal welfare<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409622/original/file-20210705-19-1oft08e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=23%2C34%2C7741%2C5098&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Eggs laid by battery hens would be phased out within 15 years under a plan to improve poultry welfare in Australia. The proposal signals some relief for the <a href="https://www.australianeggs.org.au/dms/4858-AE-Anuual-Report-2020-V8-web.pdf">10 million</a> or so egg-laying hens still kept in battery cages in Australia. But it doesn’t go far enough.</p>
<p>Among <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/publications/tabledpapers/f24e63d8-5fab-4736-b62a-0ca637a63a08/upload_pdf/OPD%201146_Redacted.pdf">the recommendations</a> of an independent panel were to phase out battery cages between 2032 and 2036. Egg producers will have the option of transitioning to larger furnished cages, or may decide to move straight to cage-free systems, such as barn-laid and free-range eggs.</p>
<p>Such recommendations may seem like a happy compromise – balancing the interests of farmers, consumers and the hens themselves. </p>
<p>But developing welfare standards for farmed animals involves more than just practical, scientific and economic considerations. Such decisions also have an ethical dimension: what level of animal welfare <em>should</em> society provide? On that measure, we believe the standards fall short.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="two cartons of eggs - one free-range, one caged" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409612/original/file-20210705-27-n97uyp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409612/original/file-20210705-27-n97uyp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409612/original/file-20210705-27-n97uyp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409612/original/file-20210705-27-n97uyp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409612/original/file-20210705-27-n97uyp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409612/original/file-20210705-27-n97uyp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409612/original/file-20210705-27-n97uyp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Under the draft standards, from 2036 no battery hens would be allowed in Australia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alan Porritt/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>An appetite for change</h2>
<p>An independent panel drafted <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/publications/tabledpapers/f24e63d8-5fab-4736-b62a-0ca637a63a08/upload_pdf/OPD%201146_Redacted.pdf">the proposal</a> after consulting state and territory governments, industry, animal welfare groups and the public. </p>
<p>The draft standards cover poultry including chickens, ducks, emus, geese, quail and turkeys. Confining hens in battery cages is by far the industry’s most controversial practice, and we focus on those recommendations here.</p>
<p><a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10071-016-1064-4">Research has found</a> hens are intelligent, social animals. But confined to battery cages – often a space <a href="https://www.poultryworld.net/Eggs/Articles/2021/6/European-Parliament-votes-to-ban-the-use-of-cages-by-2027-758070E/">smaller</a> than an A4 sheet of paper – they <a href="https://agriculture.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/529829/Farmed-Bird-Welfare-Science-Review.pdf">cannot</a> stretch their wings or perform basic natural behaviours such as roost, nest, forage and dust-bathe. </p>
<p>Battery hens can also suffer <a href="https://agriculture.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/529829/Farmed-Bird-Welfare-Science-Review.pdf">severe health problems</a> such as feather loss, fractured bones and haemorrhagic fatty liver syndrome. They can also experience <a href="https://welfarefootprint.org/research-projects/laying-hens/">more pain</a> than those in cage-free systems.</p>
<p>Industry figures <a href="https://www.australianeggs.org.au/dms/4858-AE-Anuual-Report-2020-V8-web.pdf">show</a> Australia produces around 17 million eggs each day. Of about 75% sold at supermarkets, 39% are from caged hens. Free-range (50%), barn-laid (10%) and specialty eggs (1%) make up the remainder. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/not-just-activists-9-out-of-10-people-are-concerned-about-animal-welfare-in-australian-farming-117077">Not just activists, 9 out of 10 people are concerned about animal welfare in Australian farming</a>
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<p>Of the other 25%, much is used in processed foods and catering, where the proportion of cage eggs is <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-23/caged-eggs-phased-out-by-2036-under-national-proposal/100236246">thought to be higher</a> than those sold in supermarkets.</p>
<p>Cage-free eggs are generally more expensive than cage eggs. Nonetheless, <a href="https://theconversation.com/its-no-yolk-grocery-giants-commit-to-animal-welfare-initiatives-12083">major supermarkets</a> and other food companies have also vowed to phase out caged eggs, or <a href="https://www.rspca.org.au/take-action/layer-hen-welfare/cage-free-proud">already use cage-free eggs</a> in their products.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.outbreak.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/farm-animal-welfare.pdf">2018 report</a> prepared for the federal government found 95% of Australians view the welfare of farmed animals as a concern and 91% want law reform to address it. </p>
<p>It found Australians want regulation that prevents the suffering of farmed animals, which are increasingly seen as sentient beings with capabilities, rights and freedoms.</p>
<p>Keeping hens in cages is not consistent with these views. An <a href="https://www.animalhealthaustralia.com.au/news/record-response-poultry-welfare-standards-public-consultation">unprecedented</a> 170,000-odd <a href="http://www.animalwelfarestandards.net.au/files/2015/07/Public-consultation-report-final-09072018.pdf">public submissions</a> were made on the draft poultry standards, reflecting the huge public interest in the issue. The vast majority supported a ban on battery cages. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="free range hens feeding" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409616/original/file-20210705-27-olfa3w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409616/original/file-20210705-27-olfa3w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409616/original/file-20210705-27-olfa3w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409616/original/file-20210705-27-olfa3w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409616/original/file-20210705-27-olfa3w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409616/original/file-20210705-27-olfa3w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409616/original/file-20210705-27-olfa3w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Under the proposal, hens would be free-range or kept in barns or larger cages.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How did we get here?</h2>
<p>State and territory agriculture ministers must now endorse the standards and enact regulations to bring them into effect.</p>
<p>If enacted, the standards will replace the <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/ebook/download/pdf/3451">outdated</a> 2002 code of practice. The independent panel was appointed to help re-draft those standards after previous attempts were mired in controversy, including <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-21/egg-farmers-accused-of-colluding-with-nsw-government/9229242">allegations</a> of collusion between farmers and the NSW government.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/consumer-affairs/rspca-threatens-to-quit-poultry-standards-advisory-group-as-integrity-of-process-is-questioned-20170213-gubgx0.html">Scientists</a>, <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/consumer-affairs/rspca-threatens-to-quit-poultry-standards-advisory-group-as-integrity-of-process-is-questioned-20170213-gubgx0.html">animal welfare organisations</a> and <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-22/western-australia-may-leave-chicken-welfare-review/9283274">two state governments</a> also raised concern about the integrity of the process.</p>
<p>The panel’s appointment was a positive step. Importantly, it was made up of independent experts, rather than dominated by industry and agriculture department representatives.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="hens in cage with feathers missing" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409614/original/file-20210705-19-10b71u7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409614/original/file-20210705-19-10b71u7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409614/original/file-20210705-19-10b71u7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409614/original/file-20210705-19-10b71u7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409614/original/file-20210705-19-10b71u7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409614/original/file-20210705-19-10b71u7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409614/original/file-20210705-19-10b71u7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Most submissions supported a ban on keeping hens in battery cages, which can cause serious health problems.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Emma Hanswell/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Where the proposal falls short</h2>
<p>The proposed standards give egg producers ten to 15 years to transition away from battery cages. Animal welfare groups such as the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-23/caged-eggs-phased-out-by-2036-under-national-proposal/100236246">RSPCA say</a> this timeline is too slow and cages should be phased out sooner – and we agree.</p>
<p>The use of battery cages in Australia is certainly <a href="https://theconversation.com/proposed-poultry-standards-leave-australia-trailing-behind-other-industrialised-countries-88302">out of step</a> internationally. Most OECD nations have <a href="https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/lcdocs/transcripts/2188/Transcript%20-%2014%20August%20-%20Select%20Committee%20on%20the%20Use%20of%20Battery%20Cages%20for%20Hens%20in%20the%20Egg%20-%20UNCORRECTED.pdf">banned</a> battery cages or are in the process of doing so.</p>
<p>The lengthy period of transition prioritises the continued availability of cheap battery cage eggs, and the interests of cage-egg producers, over the welfare of millions of animals.</p>
<p>The standards will still allow the use of <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12365505/">furnished cages</a>: larger cages with features such as perches and scratch pads.</p>
<p>Furnished cages are better than battery cages. And some researchers <a href="https://agriculture.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/529829/Farmed-Bird-Welfare-Science-Review.pdf">say</a> furnished cages, if well managed, are better than poorly run free-range and barn systems. But the behavioural needs of hens are not fully satisfied in furnished cages. And if lifetime confinement represents a “better” animal welfare outcome than many cage-free facilities, this reflects very poorly on the regulation of cage-free systems. </p>
<p>A more humane approach would keep hens in well-managed free-range or barn systems. In fact, the European Parliament last month <a href="https://www.poultryworld.net/Eggs/Articles/2021/6/European-Parliament-votes-to-ban-the-use-of-cages-by-2027-758070E/">voted overwhelmingly</a> (but non-bindingly) in favour of phasing out all cages in farming.</p>
<p>And enacting new standards is not enough. To ensure standards are maintained and enforced, an independent animal welfare regulator is needed, as recommended by the <a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/completed/agriculture/report">Productivity Commission</a> in 2017. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="three hens in field" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409625/original/file-20210705-35953-1pt8cxy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409625/original/file-20210705-35953-1pt8cxy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=262&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409625/original/file-20210705-35953-1pt8cxy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=262&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409625/original/file-20210705-35953-1pt8cxy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=262&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409625/original/file-20210705-35953-1pt8cxy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=330&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409625/original/file-20210705-35953-1pt8cxy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=330&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409625/original/file-20210705-35953-1pt8cxy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=330&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An independent regulator should enforce poultry standards.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A fundamental moral question</h2>
<p>The draft standards represent an important first step in freeing Australian hens from cages. While not perfect, they will bring Australian agriculture closer to international scientific consensus and public opinion on the issue.</p>
<p>However, developing animal welfare standards involves considering the practical, the economic, the scientific <em>and</em> the ethical. Deciding whether and when to ban cage production systems touches on fundamental moral questions, such as whether non-human animals deserve a “good life” and what this means in practice.</p>
<p>At the most fundamental level, Australians must ask themselves: should sentient, intelligent creatures have the freedom to access the outdoors? Or should they spend their lives in a barren cage so we can have the option of cheaper eggs? </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australians-care-about-animals-but-we-dont-buy-ethical-meat-104394">Australians care about animals – but we don't buy ethical meat</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/163552/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christine Parker received funding from the Australian Research Council to research “Regulating Food Labels: The Case of Free Range Food Products in Australia” (DP150102168) from 2015 to 2018. She is affiliated with the Australasian Animal Law Teachers and Researchers Association and the Animal Welfare Lawyers group.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lev Bromberg receives a Commonwealth Government Research Training Program Scholarship. He is affiliated with the Australasian Animal Law Teachers and Researchers Association.</span></em></p>Egg production standards are about more than just a happy compromise. Hens are sentient, intelligent beings. Like us, they deserve a good life.Christine Parker, Professor of Law, The University of MelbourneLev Bromberg, PhD Candidate, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1525722021-02-26T13:24:41Z2021-02-26T13:24:41ZMeatpacking plants have been deadly COVID-19 hot spots – but policies that encourage workers to show up sick are legal<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385950/original/file-20210223-18-w2re0x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5400%2C3661&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Nearly 1,000 workers at this Smithfield Foods pork-processing plant in South Dakota contracted COVID-19 between mid-March and mid-April 2020. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/sign-for-the-smithfield-foods-pork-processing-plant-in-news-photo/1210647867?adppopup=true">Kerem Yucel / AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Working in meatpacking plants has <a href="https://www.osha.gov/meatpacking">always been dangerous</a>. A recent study shows that it became deadlier in the era of COVID-19, even as company profits soared. </p>
<p>This analysis, published in December 2020, estimates that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2010115117">6%-8% of all COVID-19 cases and 3%-4% of all COVID-19 deaths in the U.S.</a> through July 21, 2020 were tied to meat and poultry plants. Workers in these facilities stand close together on processing lines, which makes social distancing difficult.</p>
<p>At the same time, companies like <a href="https://www.tysonfoods.com/news/news-releases/2020/11/tyson-foods-reports-strong-fourth-quarter-and-fiscal-2020-results">Tyson</a>, which produces chicken, beef and pork, and <a href="https://www.thepigsite.com/news/2020/11/jbs-posts-higher-than-expected-quarterly-profit-defying-estimates">JBS</a>, which produces beef and pork, are reporting high earnings despite COVID-related challenges such as plant closures. </p>
<p>I am a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=C97MdtkAAAAJ&hl=en">law professor</a> and have written about links between lax state and federal <a href="https://worklawcovid19book.netlify.app/meatpacking.html">enforcement of health and safety laws</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2010115117">increased</a> rates of <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5956e16e6b8f5b8c45f1c216/t/5f445e5ca7b21825e9add2b3/1598316124697/Chp26_COVIDPolicyPlaybook-Aug2020.pdf">COVID-19</a> infections and deaths. Thanks to punitive attendance rules and Trump administration policies, meat- and poultry-processing workers have been unnecessarily exposed to COVID-19. In my view, the best way to protect them is to reform laws that prioritize production over workers’ health.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ba5StXhy_PY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Meat and poultry workers began calling for better protection early in the COVID-19 pandemic.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Sick on the job</h2>
<p>Meat- and poultry-processing companies’ standard attendance policies were <a href="https://investigatemidwest.org/2020/10/20/meatpacking-workers-say-attendance-policy-forces-them-to-work-with-potential-covid-19-symptoms/">punitive even before the pandemic</a>. Companies issued points for employees who missed work and fired those who accumulated too many points. These policies are still in place.</p>
<p>Workers at Tyson and JBS plants are required to go to work even if they are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 or <a href="https://investigatemidwest.org/2020/10/20/meatpacking-workers-say-attendance-policy-forces-them-to-work-with-potential-covid-19-symptoms/">awaiting test results</a>. The companies excuse absences for COVID-19 only if a worker has tested positive for the virus, or in Tyson’s case, has “<a href="https://www.nwaonline.com/news/2020/jun/04/pre-virus-attendance-policy-back-at-tys/">documented clinical symptoms</a>.” Tyson and JBS workers have told reporters that costs and wait times make it hard for them to access testing, so they <a href="https://www.wisfarmer.com/story/news/2020/11/03/attendance-policy-forces-sick-employees-work-meatpacking-plants/6147299002/">go to work sick</a>.</p>
<p>That said, both companies have taken steps to control the spread of COVID-19 at their plants. Tyson <a href="https://www.tysonfoods.com/news/news-releases/2020/12/tyson-foods-goes-offense-against-new-waves-covid-19-safety-measures">hired medical professionals</a>, cleans its plants daily and monitors social distancing. <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2021/02/01/962877199/meatpacking-companies-osha-face-investigation-over-coronavirus-in-plants">JBS</a> now offers unlimited personal protective equipment and tests symptomatic workers and close contacts. However, even with safety protocols, the virus can spread in the workplace if infected employees come to work. </p>
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<h2>Meat and poultry plants as ‘critical infrastructure’</h2>
<p>As COVID-19 spread in the spring of 2020, then-President Donald Trump signed an <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2020-05-01/pdf/2020-09536.pdf">executive order</a> that included language <a href="https://perma.cc/8TAP-ZSRA">provided by meat trade associations</a> designating meat and poultry plants as critical infrastructure under the Defense Production Act. The order directed the U.S. Department of Agriculture to ensure that meat and poultry processing facilities stayed open or that they reopened as soon as possible during the pandemic to prevent meat shortages. </p>
<p>In May 2020, COVID-19 infections among meat- and poultry-processing workers more than tripled, and <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/pdfs/mm6927-H.pdf">the number of deaths quadrupled</a>. Still, <a href="https://worklawcovid19book.netlify.app/meatpacking.html">with the USDA’s help</a>, companies invoked the executive order to maintain operations. For example, in Cold Spring, Minnesota, a Pilgrim’s Pride plant that processes chicken stayed open because of Trump’s order even though worker infections spiked from <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/coronavirus-hot-spot-minnesota-connected-surge-cases-meatpacking-plant-n1206176">83 on May 8 to 194 on May 11</a>.</p>
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<h2>Profits and lawsuits</h2>
<p>On Nov. 17, 2020, Tyson announced net income of <a href="https://www.newsbreak.com/news/2103353545279/tyson-foods-shares-rise-after-earnings-beat-2021-dividend-announced">US$692 million</a> for the fourth quarter of 2020, up from $369 million for the same period in 2019. <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/investing/tyson-foods-tops-q4-earnings-forecast-sees-2021-sales-gains">Tyson stock</a> traded at $1.81 per share, up 49.5% from the same period in 2019. This was a result of increased production. To date, over <a href="https://thefern.org/2020/04/mapping-covid-19-in-meat-and-food-processing-plants">12,500 Tyson workers</a> have been infected with COVID-19. </p>
<p>Tyson currently <a href="https://htv-prod-media.s3.amazonaws.com/files/amended-complaint-tyson-1605748137.pdf">faces a lawsuit</a> for a COVID-19 outbreak at a plant in Waterloo, Iowa that has <a href="https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2020/11/18/lawsuit-tyson-managers-bet-money-on-how-many-workers-would-contract-covid-19/">sickened at least 1,000 workers</a> and killed five. The <a href="https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2020/11/18/lawsuit-tyson-managers-bet-money-on-how-many-workers-would-contract-covid-19/">wrongful death lawsuit</a> filed by the <a href="https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/business/2020/10/06/tyson-foods-sued-over-columbus-junction-workers-covid-19-death-iowa/3636300001/">families of three deceased employees</a> charges that the company required workers – including some who were transferred from facilities with COVID-19 outbreaks – to work long hours in cramped conditions. </p>
<p>For its part, JBS reported <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/brazils-jbs-turns-581-2-015514838.html">$581.2 million</a> in net profits in the third quarter of 2020, beating analysts’ forecasts. On Sept. 12, 2020, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined the company $15,615 due to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-greeley-colorado-denver-f46d59db7b8d45898e975510cdd0ae0a">six deaths</a> and 290 COVID-19 infections in its Greeley, Colorado plant. </p>
<p>Commenting on the fine, two former federal regulators noted that the Trump administration could have <a href="https://tcf.org/content/report/halting-workplace-covid-19-transmission-urgent-proposal-protect-american-workers/">punished JBS much more severely</a> if it had penalized the company for violations at multiple plants and designated them as willful violations. In <a href="https://www.cpr.org/2020/11/25/meatpacking-giant-jbs-battles-new-coronavirus-outbreaks-at-greeley-plant-and-corporate-offices/">November 2020</a>, 32 new infections were confirmed at the Greeley plant. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386250/original/file-20210224-13-7nhby7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Marty Walsh testifies at his Senate confirmation hearing." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386250/original/file-20210224-13-7nhby7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386250/original/file-20210224-13-7nhby7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386250/original/file-20210224-13-7nhby7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386250/original/file-20210224-13-7nhby7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386250/original/file-20210224-13-7nhby7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386250/original/file-20210224-13-7nhby7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386250/original/file-20210224-13-7nhby7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">If confirmed as U.S. secretary of labor, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh would be the first union member to hold the post in nearly 50 years.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/BidenCabinetLabor/d9cd23a0d72243a88a0bdd4b57f3e92f/photo">Graeme Jennings/Pool via AP</a></span>
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<h2>Legal reforms</h2>
<p>Critics argue that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration <a href="https://tcf.org/content/report/halting-workplace-covid-19-transmission-urgent-proposal-protect-american-workers/">has not adequately enforced</a> workplace health and safety laws during the pandemic. Trump’s executive order <a href="https://worklawcovid19book.netlify.app/meatpacking.html">limited OSHA’s authority to enforce the laws</a> and authorized the Department of Agriculture to keep meat and poultry plants open despite outbreaks. Even with stronger enforcement, however, punitive attendance policies still could increase infection rates by requiring workers to go to work sick.</p>
<p>President Joe Biden issued an <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/21/executive-order-protecting-worker-health-and-safety/">executive order</a> on Jan. 21, 2021, directing the Department of Labor to issue stronger guidance on workplace safety during the pandemic. But employers do not have to comply with this guidance, and it does not address punitive attendance policies. </p>
<p>I believe three reforms are needed to fill the gap. First, federal and state agencies could use their legal authority to prohibit punitive attendance policies. Section 5 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 includes a “<a href="https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/oshact/section5-duties">general duty standard</a>” that requires employers to provide employees with a place of employment free from recognized hazards that are causing or likely to cause death or serious harm. </p>
<p>Although this would be a new use of the “general duty” standard, it would address a recognized hazard that is likely to cause death or serious harm. This is a mandatory requirement that employers already have to comply with and does not require an in-person inspection to enforce.</p>
<p>Second, Biden could withdraw Trump’s executive order classifying meat and poultry plants as critical infrastructure. And the Biden administration could require plants to close down if new outbreaks occur among their workers. </p>
<p>Finally, meat and poultry companies could be required to provide workers with <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jlb/article/7/1/lsaa036/5849058">hazard pay</a>, which should increase if the companies’ net profits rise. As a precedent, <a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/seattles-sudden-hazard-pay-move-shows-how-absent-government-has-been-for-workers-all-along/">Seattle</a>, <a href="https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/legal-and-compliance/state-and-local-updates/pages/hazard-pay-for-grocery-workers-is-trending-in-california.aspx">Long Beach, California</a> and Oakland, California all recently adopted hazard pay mandates for grocery workers during the pandemic.</p>
<p>Grocery store chains are challenging the laws, arguing that their profit margins cannot support these payments. But it would be hard for meat and poultry companies to make that argument in light of their recent earnings.</p>
<p>Meatpacking plants emerged as <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6927e2.htm">hot spots of infection</a> early in the COVID-19 pandemic. As of Feb. 24, 2021, more than 57,454 meat- and poultry-processing workers had <a href="https://thefern.org/2020/04/mapping-covid-19-in-meat-and-food-processing-plants/">tested positive for COVID-19</a> and 284 had died. In my view, it is time for legal action to protect meat and poultry workers and compensate them fairly for working in hazardous conditions during this pandemic.</p>
<p><em>This article has been updated to note that the estimates cited for COVID-19 illnesses and deaths at meat and poultry plants as a fraction of all U.S. COVID-19 illnesses and deaths covered the period up through July 21, 2020.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/152572/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ruqaiijah Yearby does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Thousands of workers at meat- and poultry-processing plants have contracted COVID-19, and hundreds have died. A legal scholar recommends ways to make their jobs safer.Ruqaiijah Yearby, Professor of Law, Saint Louis UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1473352020-10-16T11:00:15Z2020-10-16T11:00:15ZWorsening hurricane season threatens billions of chickens<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363552/original/file-20201014-23-1a7bfvv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=79%2C9%2C6543%2C4408&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">George Aubert rescues one of his chickens from rising floodwaters caused by Hurricane Matthew in Fair Bluff, North Carolina, in 2016.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/george-aubert-rescues-one-of-his-chickens-from-rising-news-photo/613946860"> Sean Rayford/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363544/original/file-20201014-21-dmlswj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363544/original/file-20201014-21-dmlswj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=214&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363544/original/file-20201014-21-dmlswj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=214&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363544/original/file-20201014-21-dmlswj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=214&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363544/original/file-20201014-21-dmlswj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=268&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363544/original/file-20201014-21-dmlswj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=268&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363544/original/file-20201014-21-dmlswj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=268&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="attribution"><a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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<p>Hurricanes can have devastating consequences for both residents and businesses in their path. And one sector that’s particularly exposed is the broiler chicken industry. </p>
<p>Virtually all of the breasts or legs you eat at home or in a restaurant come from broilers, the name given to chickens bred and raised for meat production. Sometimes you’ll hear chickens called fryers, roasters and Cornish game hens, but generally these all refer to broilers harvested at specific ages and weights. </p>
<p>The U.S. produced 9.18 billion broilers in 2019, <a href="https://www.nationalchickencouncil.org/about-the-industry/statistics/broiler-chicken-industry-key-facts/">more than any country in the world</a>. It’s also the <a href="https://oec.world/en/profile/hs92/poultry-meat">second-biggest exporter</a> of poultry. Yet over half, or <a href="https://www.nationalchickencouncil.org/about-the-industry/statistics/top-broiler-producing-states/">5.1 billion</a>, are at risk for six months of every year – from June 1 to Nov. 30 – of getting wiped out by a hurricane. </p>
<p>Six of the top 10 broiler-producing states – such as Georgia, Alabama and North Carolina – are also six of the top 10 hurricane states. </p>
<p><iframe id="pdMKX" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/pdMKX/3/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>And even though <a href="https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/AgCensus/2012/Online_Resources/Ag_Atlas_Maps/Livestock_and_Animals/Livestock,_Poultry_and_Other_Animals/12-M403-RGBDot1-largetext.pdf">most broiler houses are built well inland</a> from the coast and often are constructed with hurricane straps and braces to withstand wind damage, flooding is often a major concern where hurricanes are involved. Georgia poultry farmers <a href="https://www.wattagnet.com/articles/35863-georgia-poultry-houses-lost-to-hurricane-michae">lost over 2 million chickens to Hurricane Michael</a> in 2018. North Carolina poultry growers <a href="https://www.ncdps.gov/news/press-releases/2018/09/26/total-agricultural-losses-estimated-over-11-billion">lost 4.1 million birds</a> in Hurricane Florence that same year, following a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-storm-matthew-poultry/millions-of-north-carolina-chickens-die-in-hurricane-matthew-floods-state-idUSKCN12C2J6">loss of 5 million to Hurricane Matthew</a> in 2016. And Mississippi poultry growers <a href="https://www.everycrsreport.com/files/20051005_RL33075_522d727690dea86411c0393fe4f53e53b6d18669.pdf">lost 6 million chickens</a> in Hurricane Katrina in 2005. </p>
<p>While these losses are devastating to individual farmers and communities, given the billions produced by the industry as a whole, they usually have little impact on consumer poultry prices or availability of the <a href="https://www.nationalchickencouncil.org/about-the-industry/statistics/broiler-chicken-industry-key-facts/">nearly 100 pounds of chicken</a> the average American consumes per year.</p>
<p>But that could change as hurricane season continues to get worse and more active. This year, the global organization that categorizes them <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/09/the-2020-hurricane-season-is-officially-out-of-names.html">ran out of names</a>.</p>
<p>Working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Southeast Climate Hub, my colleagues at North Carolina State University and I <a href="https://www.climatehubs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/Poultry%20Producers%20Guide_SE.pdf">developed a guide</a> for producers to help them plan for these emergencies and mitigate their exposure to hurricanes and other disasters. For example, we encourage them to better prepare for hurricanes by raising poultry houses <a href="https://www.fema.gov/sites/default/files/2020-08/fema543_design_guide_complete.pdf">above the 100-year flood zone</a> – even a foot can make a big difference – and using materials that can withstand 140 mph winds. Producers are also more likely to keep their chickens alive by ensuring there’s plenty of potable water in an elevated location. </p>
<p>Following guidelines like these can help ensure more birds survive the storm and subsequent flooding. </p>
<p>We like a good chicken sandwich as much as the next person and want to do all we can to keep them available and affordable.</p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/147335/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tom Tabler receives funding from USDA-NIFA.</span></em></p>More than half the US production of broiler chickens is in states along the coast frequently struck by hurricanes.Tom Tabler, Extension Professor, Mississippi State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1453252020-10-07T03:07:55Z2020-10-07T03:07:55ZNearly half a million poultry deaths: there are 3 avian influenza outbreaks in Victoria. Should we be worried?<p>As we navigate a global human pandemic, avian influenza (or “bird flu”) has been detected in domestic poultry across Victoria. </p>
<p>When scientists discuss avian influenza, we’re usually referring to the diverse subtypes of influenza that primarily infect birds. Avian influenza viruses are commonly found in healthy wild birds and can also cause illness and death among domestic poultry including chickens, turkeys and ducks. </p>
<p>Humans can contract it if they come into close contact with infected birds (not from eating cooked chicken or eggs). But these viruses don’t easily infect us and their health risk is <a href="https://www2.health.vic.gov.au/public-health/infectious-diseases/disease-information-advice/avian-flu">considered low</a>. </p>
<p>Between 2003-2019, there have been about 2,500 human cases of avian influenza globally (mainly caused by the influenza subtypes <a href="https://academic.oup.com/femsre/article/43/6/608/5543894">H7N9</a> and <a href="https://www.who.int/influenza/human_animal_interface/2020_10_07_tableH5N1.pdf?ua=1">H5N1</a>).</p>
<p>There’s also no evidence of people becoming infected as a result of the current outbreaks in Victoria. Nonetheless, avian influenza viruses can mutate, so we must carefully monitor and deal with them as they arise. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/bird-flu-learning-lessons-from-traditional-human-animal-relations-70441">Bird flu: learning lessons from traditional human-animal relations</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>How we classify avian influenza</h2>
<p>These viruses are classified in two ways. The first is based on the HA-NA subtype system. On the surface of the virus are two proteins: haemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA). Of these, there are 16 and 9 types respectively. </p>
<p>So when we talk about the subtype <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/h5n1-virus.htm">H5N1</a>, for example, we’re referring to type 5 of the HA and type 1 of the NA. Due to their mix-and-match nature, there are 144 potential HA-NA subtype combinations. The vast majority of these never cause disease in birds.</p>
<p>Avian influenza viruses are also classified by how “pathogenic” they are, which refers to their ability to cause disease in domestic poultry. Low pathogenic viruses are common in wild birds and may cause limited disease in poultry, but highly pathogenic viruses cause high mortality in poultry.</p>
<p>Occasionally, when an H5 or H7 low pathogenic avian influenza virus crosses from wild birds to poultry, changes in the virus genome can occur, transforming it into a highly pathogenic virus.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360211/original/file-20200928-18-95hl1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360211/original/file-20200928-18-95hl1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=265&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360211/original/file-20200928-18-95hl1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=265&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360211/original/file-20200928-18-95hl1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=265&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360211/original/file-20200928-18-95hl1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360211/original/file-20200928-18-95hl1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360211/original/file-20200928-18-95hl1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Avian influenza viruses are classified in two ways - the first is based on the HA and NA subtypes, and the second is based pathogenicity.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Michelle Wille</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Avian influenza outbreaks in Victoria</h2>
<p>In Victoria, there have been three <a href="https://agriculture.vic.gov.au/biosecurity/animal-diseases/poultry-diseases/avian-influenza-bird-flu">outbreaks</a> of avian influenza since July this year: two low pathogenic avian influenza viruses, H5N2 and H7N6, in domestic turkeys and emus, respectively, as well as a high pathogenic H7N7 virus in chickens.</p>
<p>The simultaneous detection of different virus subtypes in chickens, emus and turkeys is unusual. In the past, outbreaks in domestic birds have mostly been caused by a single subtype. This highlights the importance of stringent biosecurity practices, to prevent the introduction of avian influenza into farmed poultry. </p>
<p>Victoria’s current outbreaks are causing substantial economic loss and are considered emergency animal diseases. They have resulted in:</p>
<ul>
<li>the deaths of about <a href="https://www.oie.int/wahis_2/temp/reports/en_fup_0000035639_20200904_124628.pdf">450,000</a> domestic birds across <a href="https://agriculture.vic.gov.au/biosecurity/animal-diseases/poultry-diseases/avian-influenza-bird-flu">six farms</a>, of which the vast majority are <a href="https://agriculture.vic.gov.au/biosecurity/animal-diseases/poultry-diseases/avian-influenza-bird-flu">egg-laying chickens</a></li>
<li>a potential loss of <a href="https://www.outbreak.gov.au/current-responses-to-outbreaks/avian-influenza">export markets</a> for poultry products </li>
<li>significant response costs and loss of income for affected producers, requiring <a href="https://agriculture.vic.gov.au/biosecurity/animal-diseases/poultry-diseases/avian-influenza-bird-flu">permits</a> to move eggs, equipment and birds from affected areas.</li>
</ul>
<p>The good news is Australia has successfully eradicated high pathogenic avian influenza viruses in the past. We will almost certainly eradicate these too. </p>
<p><a href="https://agriculture.vic.gov.au/">Agriculture Victoria</a>, the lead agency for emergency animal diseases in the state, is responding to the outbreaks in a number of <a href="https://agriculture.vic.gov.au/biosecurity/animal-diseases/poultry-diseases/avian-influenza-bird-flu">ways</a>. </p>
<p>Firstly, a <a href="https://agriculture.vic.gov.au/biosecurity/animal-diseases/poultry-diseases/avian-influenza-bird-flu/restricted-and-control-area-orders">housing order</a> requires all bird owners in the affected areas to keep their birds inside. This measure, along with other movement controls, helps limit spread to other farms. </p>
<p>Second, infected birds on the farms are destroyed, with the farms thoroughly decontaminated. These procedures are key to preventing the continued spread of avian influenza.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360217/original/file-20200928-22-yy6i65.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360217/original/file-20200928-22-yy6i65.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=139&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360217/original/file-20200928-22-yy6i65.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=139&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360217/original/file-20200928-22-yy6i65.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=139&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360217/original/file-20200928-22-yy6i65.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=174&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360217/original/file-20200928-22-yy6i65.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=174&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360217/original/file-20200928-22-yy6i65.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=174&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">There are currently three outbreaks of avian influenza in Victoria, high pathogenic H7N7 in chickens, low pathogenic H5N2 in turkeys and low pathogenic H7N6 in emus.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Michelle Wille</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How we’re tracking the spread of the viruses</h2>
<p>Outbreaks of avian influenza in Australian poultry are infrequent. The last outbreak of high pathogenic avian influenza in Victoria’s poultry (before this year) was in <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352771420300434#bb0215">1992</a>. Low pathogenic avian influenza, however, is detected in our wild birds regularly. </p>
<p>Past testing has found different groups of wild birds can have infection rates ranging between <a href="https://veterinaryresearch.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13567-016-0308-2">0.1-40%</a>. The variation depends on which species make up the group, the group’s predominant location and also what season it is. The most common virus subtypes found in wild birds are <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/avj.12379">H1, H3 and H6</a>.</p>
<p>Data used to understand and monitor avian influenza in the wild is generated by the National Avian Influenza Wild Bird Surveillance <a href="https://wildlifehealthaustralia.com.au/ProgramsProjects/WildBirdSurveillance.aspx">program</a>, which screens samples directly from captured birds, or indirectly through their faeces.</p>
<h2>Not an ‘imported’ virus</h2>
<p>Unlike contact tracing with people, birds can’t tell you who they have been socialising with. That’s why genomic sequencing is crucial in tracking, tracing and monitoring avian influenza viruses. </p>
<p>Each virus has a unique genomic sequence, like a genetic fingerprint. Using genetic analysis, the different genomes can be compared. This offers insight into how closely related certain viruses are and how wild birds may be spreading them across the country. </p>
<p>This method helped us to discover Victoria currently has three distinct outbreaks – and to connect the farms within each outbreak. </p>
<p>Also, a critical component of our response is the collection of virus genomes already available to us from past surveillance efforts. These data have revealed the viruses currently in Victoria are not imported from Asia, or elsewhere. </p>
<p>Rather, they’re similar to low pathogenic avian influenza viruses currently circulating in wild Australian waterbirds, as well as viruses that have caused past outbreaks in poultry. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/avian-influenza-why-its-not-going-away-20038">Avian influenza – why it’s not going away</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><em>We would like to acknowledge Agriculture Victoria, AgriBio, the Centre for AgriBioscience (a joint initiative between Agriculture Victoria and La Trobe University), the CSIRO Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness and the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza in collaboration with Deakin University, for their ongoing avian influenza surveillance under the National Avian Influenza Wild Bird Surveillance program.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/145325/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Wille has an honorary appointment at the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza and the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The University of Melbourne.
Michelle Wille receives funding from the Australian Research Council.
Michelle Wille is a member of the National Avian Influenza Wild Bird Steering Committee.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stacey Lynch is a Senior Research Scientist, Microbial Sciences, Pests and Diseases, Agriculture Victoria, Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions and a member of the National Avian Influenza Wild Bird Steering Committee.
Stacey receives research funding from Agriculture Victoria, the National Avian Influenza Wild Bird Surveillance Program, the National Health and Medical Research Council and Australian Department of Defence.
This article has undergone internal approval by Agriculture Victoria.
</span></em></p>Victoria currently has three avian influenza outbreaks across six farms. They are being treated as an emergency. Here’s how authorities are responding.Michelle Wille, Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award Fellow, University of SydneyStacey Lynch, Senior Research Scientist, Agriculture Victoria, Honorary (Fellow) Veterinary Bioscience, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1370552020-05-13T12:39:49Z2020-05-13T12:39:49ZWhy it’s wrong to blame livestock farms for coronavirus<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/334504/original/file-20200512-82366-nmc4uy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C6%2C2048%2C1526&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Backyard chickens may seem free and happy, but are at increased risk of contracting diseases from wild birds.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/xJAqs">Bruce Turner/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As part of the global response to the current pandemic, scientists are trying to identify the source of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Some commentators have promoted unsubstantiated theories suggesting that “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/28/is-factory-farming-to-blame-for-coronavirus">factory farming</a>,” or intensive large-scale <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/apr/16/coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic-food-animals">livestock agriculture</a> is to blame for this virus.</p>
<p>SARS-CoV-2 appears to have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-020-0820-9">originated in bats</a>, and possibly moved to humans via an intermediate host animal. Bats <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/v11010041">may also have been the original hosts</a> for outbreaks that infected humans via <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.virusres.2007.03.012">civets</a> in 2003 and <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12879-016-2137-3">camels</a> in 2012.</p>
<p>While these coronaviruses originated in animals, not one of these species is associated with “factory farming.” That makes it hard to follow the logic that <a href="https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/493811-link-between-factory-farmed-animals-covid-10-and-preventing-the">farmed animals</a>, rather than wildlife, resulted in the current pandemic. Animals, including <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/healthypets/outbreaks.html">pets</a>, sometimes carry harmful germs that can spread to people. But studies show that the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/nature06536">majority</a> of emerging <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/onehealth/basics/zoonotic-diseases.html">zoonotic</a> diseases originate in wildlife. </p>
<p>And as an <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=sy5sxZoAAAAJ&hl=en">animal scientist</a>, I have seen <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eng.2019.10.004">solid evidence</a> that <a href="https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/animal-disease-information/avian/defend-the-flock-program/dtf-biosecurity">biosecurity</a> practices associated with commercial animal agriculture decrease the risk of disease. While these practices – vaccination, physical distancing and preventing contact with wildlife - may not align with popular ideas of “naturalness,” they make livestock operations safer for both animals and humans.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1230876987956310023"}"></div></p>
<h2>Curbing outbreaks in livestock</h2>
<p>Just as humans can experience pandemics, animal populations are also vulnerable to widespread disease events, known as panzootics. The <a href="https://www.oie.int/">World Organization of Animal Health</a> estimates that illness and death due to animal diseases cause annual losses of at <a href="https://www.icrad.eu/about/">least 20%</a> of livestock production globally. </p>
<p>The world’s <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0096084">1 billion livestock keepers</a> have a strong incentive to control zoonotic diseases. These outbreaks threaten animal farmers’ health and <a href="https://cgspace.cgiar.org/handle/10568/21161">economic well-being</a>. In general, large-scale intensive industries are able to implement <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095809919308549">biosecurity</a> more effectively than small-holder or extensive industries, where animals are outdoors. </p>
<p>Toward this end, multidisciplinary “<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/onehealth/basics/index.html">One Health</a>” experts work in partnership on approaches to achieve the best health outcomes for people, animals and the environment. Commercial livestock farmers consult regularly with veterinarians and animal nutritionists, vaccinate against diseases, “socially distance” their young stock from each other and physically distance their herds and flocks from wildlife to reduce their exposure to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1579108">natural reservoirs</a> of microbes. The risk of disease outbreaks increases when biosecurity protocols fail, or are absent. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RmrtW16pFM4?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Basic biosecurity for U.S. teens exhibiting animals at fairs.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Cattle get pneumonia too</h2>
<p>To see how livestock farmers work to curb infectious outbreaks, let’s consider viral respiratory diseases. These pathogens can cause pneumonia in cattle, just as SARS-CoV-2 does in people. <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0749-0720(02)00004-X">Over 1.2 million cattle die each year</a> in the U.S. from bovine respiratory diseases – about 1% of the national herd. This disease is epizootic, meaning that it does not infect humans, and is associated with multiple viruses, including a bovine coronavirus. </p>
<p>Respiratory pathogens spread through close contact and aerosol transmission. This is one reason why commercial dairy farmers raise their calves in hutches that are <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0749-0720(02)00004-X">spaced roughly 4 feet apart</a>, to prevent nose-to-nose contact. Think of it as bovine social distancing. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/331170/original/file-20200428-110765-1ba3a4a.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/331170/original/file-20200428-110765-1ba3a4a.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/331170/original/file-20200428-110765-1ba3a4a.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/331170/original/file-20200428-110765-1ba3a4a.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/331170/original/file-20200428-110765-1ba3a4a.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/331170/original/file-20200428-110765-1ba3a4a.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/331170/original/file-20200428-110765-1ba3a4a.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/331170/original/file-20200428-110765-1ba3a4a.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A dairy farm in California physically distances individual calves to prevent nose-to-nose contact.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alison Van Eenennaam</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jun/29/mums-ask-when-cows-and-their-calves-separated-rise-ethical-milk-vegan">Animal welfare groups</a> have criticized this system, arguing that raising calves in group housing <a href="https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2015-10144">improves their social and feeding behavior</a>, although few studies document <a href="https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2018-16021">long-term benefits</a>. </p>
<p>On the other hand, commingling the animals this way poses a <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0749-0720(02)00004-X">high risk of spreading germs</a>. Just as humans are staying apart now to reduce transmission of the novel coronavirus, housing calves apart sacrifices some social interaction to reduce disease risks.</p>
<h2>Respiratory disease in chickens</h2>
<p>Isolating farm animals from infectious diseases spread by wildlife is a major reason why poultry and pigs are housed indoors. Animals raised in the open are at <a href="https://doi.org/10.3382/ps.2010-00962">greater risk</a> for predation and contracting infectious diseases from wildlife. </p>
<p>This was evident in the spring of 2018, when virulent Newcastle disease – a highly contagious viral respiratory infection – was reported in backyard chickens in Los Angeles. Since then, <a href="https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-virulent-newcastle-disease-outbreak-in-southern-california-20190607-story.html">over 1.2 million birds</a> have been euthanized or died from the disease. The infection has since spread to over <a href="https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/animal-disease-information/avian/virulent-newcastle/vnd">470 flocks</a> in California, Utah and Arizona, most of them backyard flocks. Although vaccines are part of an effective biosecurity plan, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13567-017-0475-9">less than 10%</a> of backyard poultry are vaccinated. </p>
<p>Cormorants, pigeons and doves can <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13567-017-0475-9">carry Newcastle disease</a>, so the California Department of Food and Agriculture recommends <a href="https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/ahfss/animal_health/pdfs/VNDLettertoPoultryProducers.pdf">housing poultry indoors</a> to isolate them from wild birds. Commercial poultry farmers are now on high alert to try to protect their flocks. The <a href="https://www.avma.org/javma-news/2020-02-15/newcastle-reemerges-spreads-california">biggest challenge</a> in controlling the outbreak has been <a href="https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-virulent-newcastle-disease-outbreak-in-southern-california-20190607-story.html">people disobeying a quarantine</a> that prohibits <a href="https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/ahfss/Animal_Health/VND_RegionalQuarantine.html">moving birds out of infected counties.</a></p>
<h2>Global pig populations at risk</h2>
<p>China has the world’s largest pig population and provides half of global pork production. Small-scale and backyard farms with minimal biosecurity produce <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40249-018-0495-3">more than 60% of Chinese pork</a>. Feeding pigs food waste, such as uncooked meat or food products – referred to as swill – is a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eng.2019.10.004">high biosecurity risk</a>, but is common practice on Chinese farms.</p>
<p>For many years China feared the introduction of a highly contagious and deadly tick-borne virus that causes <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/jvetres-2019-0058">African swine fever</a>, or ASF. This deadly hemorrhagic disease, with mortality rates approaching 100%, was first detected in Kenya in the 1920s. Since there is no vaccine available, the only approach to control the disease is biosecurity. The virus moves between pigs, wild boar and soft ticks, but is harmless to humans.</p>
<p>A prophetic <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/vr.103950">2017 paper</a> warned that ASF could reach China due to factors including international travel and commerce, swill feeding practices and the presence of wild boar populations. The disease surfaced there in 2018, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/jvetres-2019-0058">likely through contaminated feed</a>, and has rapidly spread into every Chinese province. </p>
<p>Before the ASF panzootic, China’s pork output was almost five times larger than U.S. production. That output has <a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2020/february/african-swine-fever-shrinks-pork-production-in-china-swells-demand-for-imported-pork/">dropped sharply</a>, doubling the price of pork in China, where it is the nation’s most-consumed meat. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/334509/original/file-20200512-82357-1s6ycyr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/334509/original/file-20200512-82357-1s6ycyr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/334509/original/file-20200512-82357-1s6ycyr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=321&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334509/original/file-20200512-82357-1s6ycyr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=321&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334509/original/file-20200512-82357-1s6ycyr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=321&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334509/original/file-20200512-82357-1s6ycyr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334509/original/file-20200512-82357-1s6ycyr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334509/original/file-20200512-82357-1s6ycyr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An outbreak of African swine fever, likely caused by contaminated feed, has sharply reduced pork production in China since 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/charts/95791/february20_datafeature_haley_fig01-01.png?v=2174.9">USDA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>ASF has spread to much of Asia and still threatens pig populations <a href="http://www.fao.org/ag/againfo/programmes/en/empres/ASF/situation_update.html">globally</a>. Commercial pig producers in non-ASF countries have implemented strict biosecurity protocols, including <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid2505.181495">managing feed sources</a>,
and customs agents are on high alert for smuggled pork products that could spread the disease further. Unfortunately, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-australia-vietnam-swinefever/australia-bars-entry-to-vietnamese-woman-for-failing-to-declare-raw-pork-idUSKBN1WU0J5">some travelers</a> seem oblivious to the potentially devastating impacts of dodging biosecurity measures.</p>
<h2>Biosecurity works</h2>
<p>Livestock farmers in developed nations understand the importance of biosecurity practices. That is why scientists believe the next important emerging pathogen is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/nature06536">least likely</a> to originate from livestock in these countries. </p>
<p>In my view, the focus should be on <a href="https://www.oie.int/en/about-us/our-missions/#c191">controlling and eradicating emerging animal diseases</a> in resource-poor countries. Without such effort, more severe epizootic and zoonotic disease outbreaks are inevitable, threatening global health and food security. </p>
<p>[<em>Get facts about coronavirus and the latest research.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=upper-coronavirus-facts">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter.</a>]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/137055/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alison Van Eenennaam was the Extension lead on the USDA-funded Bovine Respiratory Disease Complex Coordinated Agricultural Project. The goal of the project was to reduce the prevalence of bovine respiratory disease in beef and dairy cattle populations in the United States (2012-2016). This project was supported by the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Competitive Grant no. 2011-68004-30367 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.</span></em></p>Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, some critics say livestock farms promote diseases that spread from animals to humans. An animal scientist explains how well-run farms work to keep that from happening.Alison Van Eenennaam, Researcher, Department of Animal Science, University of California, DavisLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1373672020-05-06T12:22:16Z2020-05-06T12:22:16ZTo understand the danger of COVID-19 outbreaks in meatpacking plants, look at the industry’s history<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/332828/original/file-20200505-83751-u4g5sv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C4%2C1035%2C691&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Workers in a pork processing plant, 2016.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Figure_7-_Workers_in_a_Hog_Slaughter_and_Processing_Plant_Use_Hooks_and_Other_Tools_(27007559560).jpg">USGAO/Wikipedia</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Large meatpacking plants have become <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2020/5/1/21239396/covid-19-meatpacking-prison-jail-moral">hotspots for coronavirus infection</a>, along with jails and nursing homes. As of May 1, nearly <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6918e3.htm?s_cid=mm6918e3_x">5,000 packing plant workers in 19 states</a> had fallen ill, and 20 had died. </p>
<p>Packing plants from Washington state to Iowa to Georgia have <a href="https://www.meatpoultry.com/articles/22993-covid-19-meat-plant-map">temporarily suspended operations</a>, although President Trump has <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-delegating-authority-dpa-respect-food-supply-chain-resources-national-emergency-caused-outbreak-covid-19/">invoked the Defense Production Act</a> in an effort to quickly restart these facilities.</p>
<p>As Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds put it in a press conference, virus outbreaks in packing plants are “<a href="https://cbs2iowa.com/news/local/gov-reynolds-says-meatpacking-plants-will-stay-open-even-as-hundreds-of-workers-infected">very difficult to contain</a>.” But what makes these plants so dangerous? As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=W7VMrUkAAAAJ&hl=en">sociologist</a> who has studied <a href="https://www.academia.edu/15364925/From_Collective_Bargaining_to_Social_Justice_Certification_Workers_Rights_in_the_American_Meatpacking_Industry">food system labor issues</a>, I see two answers. </p>
<p>First, working conditions experienced in meatpacking plants, which are shaped by the pressures of efficient production, contribute to the spread of COVID-19. Second, this industry has evolved since the mid-20th century in ways that make it hard for workers to advocate for safe conditions even in good times, let alone during a pandemic.</p>
<p>Together, these factors help to explain why U.S. meatpacking plants are so dangerous now – and why this problem will be difficult to solve.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cZOT9YOtl0U?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Employees at large meatpacking plants say they don’t feel safe from COVID-19.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A hard job in good times</h2>
<p>The meatpacking industry is an important job source for thousands of people. In 2019 it employed nearly 200,000 people in <a href="https://www.bls.gov/oes/2019/may/naics4_311600.htm">direct meat processing jobs</a> at wages averaging US$14.13 per hour or $29,400 yearly.</p>
<p>Even in normal conditions, meatpacking plants are <a href="https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/meatpacking/">risky places to work</a>. The job requires using knives, saws and other cutting tools, as well as operating industrial meat grinders and other heavy machinery. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10599240801985373">Traumatic injuries</a> due to workplace accidents are common, and mistakes can have <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/05/08/exploitation-and-abuse-at-the-chicken-plant">gruesome consequences</a>. Government researchers have also documented <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/updates/upd-03-27-14_b.html">chronic injuries</a>, such as repetitive motion strains, among packing plant workers. </p>
<p>The same conditions that lead to these accidents and injuries during normal times also contribute to the spread of coronavirus. To understand this connection, it is first important to know that meatpacking is a volume industry. The higher a plant’s daily throughput – that is, the more animals it turns into meat – the more lucrative it is.</p>
<p>For instance, one Smithfield plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, which shut down indefinitely in April after <a href="https://www.dglobe.com/newsmd/coronavirus/5382800-Sioux-Falls-pork-plant-COVID-19-cases-near-900-as-officials-prep-re-opening">hundreds of workers</a> tested positive for COVID-19, employed 3,700 people and produced <a href="https://www.smithfieldfoods.com/press-room/company-news/smithfield-foods-to-close-sioux-falls-sd-plant-indefinitely-amid-covid-19">18 million servings of pork daily</a>.</p>
<p>To maximize efficiency, production takes place on an assembly line – or more accurately, a disassembly line. Workers stand close together and perform simple, repetitive tasks on animal parts as the parts stream by. </p>
<p>Production lines move quickly, with industry averages ranging from <a href="https://thecounter.org/usda-final-approval-faster-hog-line-speeds-pork-processing/">1,000 animals per hour in pork processing</a> to over <a href="https://thecounter.org/usda-approves-poultry-slaughterhouse-increase-line-speed-food-safety/">8,000 per hour in chicken plants</a>. In October 2019 the Trump administration <a href="https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/wcm/connect/72fa69e6-5e16-4347-83b4-4e3361317272/2016-0017+.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&useDefaultText=0&useDefaultDesc=0">eliminated limits on production line speed</a> in pork processing plants, and it has also <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2020/04/24/usda-let-poultry-plants-move-faster-crowd-lines-covid-coronavirus-spread-meat-packing-workers/3013615001/">waived limits for individual chicken processing plants</a>.</p>
<p>The speed and organization of meatpacking both promote the spread of coronavirus. Employees labor alongside one another, working at a rate that makes it difficult, if not impossible, to practice protective behaviors such as covering sneezes and coughs. </p>
<p>The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/organizations/meat-poultry-processing-workers-employers.html">guidelines</a> to allow meatpacking workers to continue working during the pandemic. They include spacing workers at least six feet apart and installing barriers between them. Some plants have <a href="https://www.meatpoultry.com/articles/23006-shielding-line-workers-during-a-pandemic">adopted these controls</a>, but the pressures of rapid production may well limit their effectiveness. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/332819/original/file-20200505-83730-15dv0bl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/332819/original/file-20200505-83730-15dv0bl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/332819/original/file-20200505-83730-15dv0bl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332819/original/file-20200505-83730-15dv0bl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332819/original/file-20200505-83730-15dv0bl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332819/original/file-20200505-83730-15dv0bl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332819/original/file-20200505-83730-15dv0bl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332819/original/file-20200505-83730-15dv0bl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Meat processing stations at the JBS Beef Plant in Greeley, Colo., equipped with new sheet-metal partitions, April 23, 2020. As of early May 2020 the plant had recorded more than 200 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 6 employee deaths.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/meat-processing-stations-at-the-jbs-greeley-beef-plant-news-photo/1220671197?adppopup=true">Andy Cross via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Unionizing the industry</h2>
<p>Understanding why meatpacking workers tolerate these difficult and dangerous conditions requires a look at the industry’s history. </p>
<p>Many people assume that jobs in packing plants have always been as difficult and dangerous as those depicted in journalist Upton Sinclair’s famed 1906 novel “<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/140/140-h/140-h.htm">The Jungle</a>.” That book described meatpacking workers in early 20th-century Chicago facing <a href="https://talkpoverty.org/2019/01/10/sinclair-jungle-immigrant-narrative/">similar conditions to those in the modern industry</a>.</p>
<p>But this assumption conceals an important story. For several decades after World War II, conditions in meatpacking plants steadily improved as a result of pressure from workers themselves. </p>
<p>Starting in 1943, the United Packinghouse Workers of America, a labor union, <a href="http://www.ufcw.org/about/ufcw-history/">organized meatpacking employees in major cities</a>. At the height of its influence, this union secured “<a href="https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/files/docs/publications/bls/bls_1063_1952.pdf">master agreements</a>” with the largest firms, such as Armour and Swift, ensuring standard wages and working conditions across the industry.</p>
<p>One source of the UPWA’s influence was its ability to build <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1093/ohr/26.1.23">interracial alliances</a>. Racial antagonism between black and white workers, linked to job discrimination and the use of black workers to break strikes in the early 20th century, had historically undermined union efforts in meatpacking plants. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/332835/original/file-20200505-83779-1pabj9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/332835/original/file-20200505-83779-1pabj9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/332835/original/file-20200505-83779-1pabj9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=605&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332835/original/file-20200505-83779-1pabj9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=605&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332835/original/file-20200505-83779-1pabj9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=605&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332835/original/file-20200505-83779-1pabj9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=760&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332835/original/file-20200505-83779-1pabj9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=760&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332835/original/file-20200505-83779-1pabj9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=760&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">UPWA District Area 5 Members Parade float, circa 1960, Chicago.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.chipublib.org/blogs/post/labor-of-love-revs-addie-and-claude-wyatt-photographs/">Source: Chicago Public Library</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The <a href="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn%3AANd9GcRP5mNYn1fucFAR86LZAobFtvUzWm6ykOPeqZ-kdod_d-rgjBRa&usqp=CAU">union’s logo</a>, which depicted clasped black and white hands, symbolized its ability to bridge these differences. Its <a href="https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/united-packinghouse-workers-america-upwa">support for the civil rights movement</a> in the 1960s also revealed its commitment to racial equality.</p>
<h2>A changing labor force</h2>
<p>But by the 1970s, the union was in decline. A key factor was industry leaders’ <a href="https://doi.org/10.1526/003601107782638701">decision to shift production</a> from cities with a strong union tradition, like Chicago and Kansas City, to small towns scattered across the Great Plains and the southeastern United States. </p>
<p>Rural work forces are more difficult to organize than their urban counterparts for many reasons. Most small towns do not have a history of union activity, and anti-union sentiment is often strong – as shown by the prevalence of <a href="https://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/right-to-work-laws-and-bills.aspx#chart">right-to-work laws</a> in many rural states. </p>
<p>Moreover, packing plants are often small towns’ only major employers. Workers and municipal authorities alike <a href="https://www.thehawkeye.com/news/20200427/if-we-lost-tyson-we-lost-everything">depend on plants</a> for jobs and tax revenue. This relationship creates enormous pressure to treat meat processing companies with deference.</p>
<p>Additionally, meatpacking <a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/pub-details/?pubid=41120">consolidated</a> in the late 20th century. Plants grew larger, and a relative handful of firms such as <a href="https://www.cargill.com/meat-poultry/beef-business">Cargill</a> and <a href="https://www.tysonsustainability.com/food">Tyson</a> came to dominate processing of <a href="https://www.hcn.org/issues/43.5/cattlemen-struggle-against-giant-meatpackers-and-economic-squeezes">beef</a>, <a href="https://www.wattagnet.com/articles/26925-top-5-broiler-producers-dominate-us-production">poultry</a> and other meats. Consolidation gives these firms greater ability to control working conditions and wages.</p>
<p>Finally, today’s plants often <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1728-4457.2005.00079.x">recruit workers from Mexico and Central America</a>, some of whom may lack legal authorization to work in the U.S. They also <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-019-00694-9">hire refugees</a> who may be unfamiliar with U.S. labor protections and have few other employment possibilities.</p>
<p>These workers’ precarious legal and economic standing makes it hard for them to challenge employers. Cultural differences, language gaps and racial prejudice can also pose obstacles to collective action.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1256330283432828929"}"></div></p>
<h2>The challenge of coronavirus</h2>
<p>Workers’ organizations have not disappeared. The United Food and Commercial Workers Union has <a href="http://www.ufcw.org/2020/04/28/order/">called on the Trump administration</a> to ensure safety during the pandemic, but it is fighting an uphill battle.</p>
<p>Despite <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/president-donald-j-trump-taking-action-ensure-safety-nations-food-supply-chain/">President Trump’s reassurances</a> that closed plants will reopen safely, I expect that the pressures of efficiency and limits on workers’ ability to advocate for themselves will cause infections to persist. </p>
<p>In meatpacking as in other industries, the pandemic has revealed how people who do “essential” work for Americans can be <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-call-workers-essential-but-is-that-just-referring-to-the-work-not-the-people-137460">treated as if they are expendable</a>.</p>
<p>[<em>Get our best science, health and technology stories.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/science-editors-picks-71/??utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=science-best">Sign up for The Conversation’s science newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/137367/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Haedicke does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>COVID-19 outbreaks have occurred at more than 100 US meatpacking plants. Geography, workforce demographics and economic concentration make it hard for workers to fight for better conditions.Michael Haedicke, Associate Professor of Sociology, Drake UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1255432019-11-21T19:05:47Z2019-11-21T19:05:47ZLight versus dark – the color of the turkey meat is due to the job of the muscle<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302957/original/file-20191121-474-1un2zv2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=505%2C0%2C4239%2C2952&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Turkeys do a lot of standing and milling around, not a lot of flying.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/pecking-order-68042605">Richard Wozniak/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>At Thanksgiving dinner, lucky families will avoid impassioned discussions about religion and politics. But another argument is almost inevitable: white meat versus dark meat. </p>
<p>Light meat lovers claim dark meat is greasy; dark meat devotees complain that light meat is dry and lacks flavor. Few meat eaters are ambivalent on the matter.</p>
<p>But why do these different types of meat exist, and what underlies these differences? <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=2dMV58YAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">As a muscle physiologist</a>, I can tell you it comes down to the metabolic and functional differences between various types of muscle.</p>
<p>Consider how turkeys move. Have you ever seen a flock of turkeys fly by? Of course not! If a turkey is threatened, it can take flight for brief periods in an attempt to escape. But these birds spend most of their time standing and walking.</p>
<p>These activities – walking and standing versus brief, panicked flight – are quite different. They’re supported by different kinds of muscles geared to these different functions, and you can see those differences on your dinner plate.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302959/original/file-20191121-547-x3akt7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302959/original/file-20191121-547-x3akt7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302959/original/file-20191121-547-x3akt7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302959/original/file-20191121-547-x3akt7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302959/original/file-20191121-547-x3akt7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302959/original/file-20191121-547-x3akt7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=554&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302959/original/file-20191121-547-x3akt7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=554&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302959/original/file-20191121-547-x3akt7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=554&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Deliciously dark or grotesquely greasy?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/leg-turkey-on-christmas-table-740426695">Andrii Ridnyi/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What makes dark meat dark?</h2>
<p>Consider first the dark meat, which is found largely in the legs. This type of meat comes from muscles that get lots of use as turkeys spend their time walking around being turkeys.</p>
<p>Muscle physiologists call these sorts of muscles <a href="https://athletics.fandom.com/wiki/Muscle_fiber">slow twitch or type I muscles</a>. They are also called oxidative muscles, which refers to how they produce adenosine triphosphate, abbreviated as ATP. Think of <a href="https://youtu.be/xN16-24QIsI">ATP as a cell’s energy currency</a> for performing a given function. Cells don’t need a job to earn this cash; they simply produce it.</p>
<p>The muscles’ metabolism must be able to support them throughout their long, sustained activities. In this case, because lots of ATP must be produced over extended periods of time, the muscle cells rely on their <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/mitochondrion">organelles called mitochondria</a>. The mitochondria are like factories that <a href="https://youtu.be/39HTpUG1MwQ">manufacture ATP</a>.</p>
<p>It’s the mitochondria that lend dark meat one of its distinguishing (disgusting?) characteristics. They can use fat to produce ATP. Because of its higher muscle fat content, some people may perceive dark muscle as greasy, while others deem it delicious.</p>
<p>Mitochondria also require oxygen in order to function. They rely on an <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/myoglobin">iron-containing protein called myoglobin</a>, which shuttles oxygen from the blood to the mitochondria found inside muscle. Because of the large amount of myoglobin, these muscles appear dark.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302960/original/file-20191121-474-dq9zo7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302960/original/file-20191121-474-dq9zo7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302960/original/file-20191121-474-dq9zo7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302960/original/file-20191121-474-dq9zo7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302960/original/file-20191121-474-dq9zo7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302960/original/file-20191121-474-dq9zo7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302960/original/file-20191121-474-dq9zo7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302960/original/file-20191121-474-dq9zo7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Lusciously lean or depressingly dry?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/carving-festive-turkey-recommended-way-leg-16962751">Paul Cowan/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What makes white meat light?</h2>
<p>What about that drier, white meat? Again, it’s useful to first consider its function.</p>
<p>White meat is found largely in the breast muscles, which are used to create the explosive force <a href="https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.000273">needed for flight</a>. But keep in mind that for turkeys, this flight is very short in duration: just long enough to escape a predator. This job is ideally suited for what physiologists call <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscle">type II or fast twitch muscle</a>.</p>
<p>This sort of activity is supported by a different means of ATP production – one that does not heavily rely on mitochondria or require oxygen. White muscles use a <a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/steps-of-glycolysis-373394">process called glycolysis</a>, which requires carbohydrates to create ATP. They are light in color because of their low capacity to use oxygen during exercise; there is simply no need for a high abundance of the iron-rich oxygen shuttle, myoglobin.</p>
<p>White muscles have a low fat content because they don’t need and don’t have a large amount of mitochondria required to make ATP from fat. That’s why some people find this meat to be dry.</p>
<p>Different species of animals perform different jobs with their muscles. For instance, duck breast muscles must support very long duration flights, and like turkey legs, are dark in color and loaded with fat. </p>
<p>In case you’re wondering, people’s muscles are a bit more complicated than just light or dark. Most human muscles are what physiologists consider mixed, with a variety of oxidative and slow muscle fibers. People with proportionally more of one than another might excel at different activities – think sprinters versus marathon runners.</p>
<p>Next time you sit down to enjoy your holiday meal, have confidence that you know why your meat choice tastes delicious. Now, can you believe what those D.C. politicians are up to?</p>
<p>[ <em>You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=youresmart">You can read us daily by subscribing to our newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/125543/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joshua Selsby is a co-founder at Extrave Bioscience, LLC. He receives funding from USDA, NIH, and several research foundations dedicated to the development of therapeutics for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. </span></em></p>Sit down to Thanksgiving dinner ready to amaze your companions with physiological facts about why different cuts of the turkey have different characteristics.Joshua Selsby, Professor of Animal Science, Iowa State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1216282019-08-20T20:04:57Z2019-08-20T20:04:57ZWill eating chicken reduce your risk of breast cancer?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288491/original/file-20190819-123710-1h4xz5x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=43%2C0%2C4896%2C3261&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">While this research has merit, it doesn't exactly tell us eating chicken reduces risk of breast cancer. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">From shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/research-check-25155">Research Checks</a> interrogate newly published studies and how they’re reported in the media. The analysis is undertaken by one or more academics not involved with the study, and reviewed by another, to make sure it’s accurate.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>You might have seen <a href="https://www.survivornet.com/articles/new-study-links-red-meat-to-increased-breast-cancer-risk-but-poultry-may-decrease-risk/">headlines</a> recently claiming eating chicken reduces a person’s risk of breast cancer.</p>
<p>These reports were based on <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ijc.32547">a new study</a> published in the International Journal of Cancer this month which examined the links between breast cancer and consumption of red meat and poultry.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1159243417181937664"}"></div></p>
<p>It found women who ate chicken had a lower risk of developing breast cancer than those who ate red meat.</p>
<p>As with all observational studies, this research cannot show cause and effect. The correlation between eating chicken and a lower risk of breast cancer may have more to do with consuming large quantities of red meat than it does with chicken having any protective qualities.</p>
<h2>The study</h2>
<p>Over almost eight years, researchers followed 42,000 women aged 35-74 involved in the <a href="https://sisterstudy.niehs.nih.gov/english/about.htm">Sister Study</a> in Puerto Rico and the United States. The Sister Study, funded by the US National Institutes of Health, is currently tracking a large cohort of women with view to better understanding the causes of breast cancer.</p>
<p>Some 1,536 cases of invasive breast cancer were diagnosed among the cohort over the eight-year period. The researchers considered this alongside information on participants’ meat consumption habits, gathered through a series of standardised questionnaires. </p>
<p>An analysis of the women’s diets showed those who consumed the most red meat (beef, veal, pork, lamb, game meats) had a 23% higher risk of being diagnosed with invasive breast cancer than those who consumed small amounts. </p>
<p>By contrast, the women who consumed the most poultry (lean chicken, turkey, duck, goose, quail and pheasant) had a 15% lower risk than those who consumed the least poultry. </p>
<p>The effects were particularly striking in post-menopausal women.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/research-check-is-white-meat-as-bad-for-your-cholesterol-levels-as-red-meat-118390">Research Check: is white meat as bad for your cholesterol levels as red meat?</a>
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<p>Notably, neither the red meat group nor the poultry group necessarily ate only one or the other. So it’s likely women eating a lot of poultry were eating less red meat, while women who ate less poultry included more red meat in their diets.</p>
<p>The researchers predicted breast cancer risk would be reduced even further if the women who ate a large amount of red meat switched to poultry.</p>
<p>They accounted for many confounding factors including obesity, age, income, education level, total energy intake, percentage of energy from fat, consumption of vegetables, fruit and dairy products, how long the women breast-fed their infants and their use of hormone therapy.</p>
<p>Even considering all these factors, there was still a significant relationship between invasive breast cancer and a high consumption of red meat.</p>
<h2>Limitations</h2>
<p>The Sister Study involves women with no previous diagnosis of breast cancer themselves, but all have sisters who have had breast cancer. Since some cases of breast cancer have a <a href="https://www.bcna.org.au/understanding-breast-cancer/breast-cancer-in-the-family/?gclid=CjwKCAjwkenqBRBgEiwA-bZVtoSj54mYgg7qaJsjzWHVby2Te1umMzPB_ezPQWvH6QlAqNoGWSM68xoCpJMQAvD_BwE">genetic component</a>, we should remember this group may have greater susceptibility to breast cancer than the general population.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, the study did not identify any women who avoided all meat, so it doesn’t tell us if a vegetarian diet would have further reduced the risk of breast cancer.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/three-charts-on-australias-declining-taste-for-beef-and-growing-appetite-for-chicken-78100">Three charts on: Australia's declining taste for beef and growing appetite for chicken</a>
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<h2>Red meat and cancer</h2>
<p>Previous studies looking at red meat and breast cancer have reported conflicting results. </p>
<p>One large <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29274927">British report</a> found a small increase in breast cancer with processed meat, but not fresh red meat. </p>
<p>Another major <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ijc.31848">review</a> confirmed the processed meat results and found only a very small increase in breast cancer related to fresh red meat.</p>
<p>Other studies have looked at poultry consumption and breast cancer. None have found significant correlations with breast or other cancers. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4821634/">Several</a> have found inverse relationships similar to those seen in this study.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288495/original/file-20190819-123754-t54hcf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288495/original/file-20190819-123754-t54hcf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288495/original/file-20190819-123754-t54hcf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288495/original/file-20190819-123754-t54hcf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288495/original/file-20190819-123754-t54hcf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288495/original/file-20190819-123754-t54hcf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288495/original/file-20190819-123754-t54hcf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A high consumption of red meat, particularly processed red meat, has been associated with increased cancer risk.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">From shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Red meat has more definite links with the risk of certain cancers. The World Cancer Research Foundation recommends limiting red meat (beef, lamb, pork, goat) to <a href="https://www.wcrf.org/dietandcancer/colorectal-cancer">reduce the risk</a> of colorectal cancer. At this stage, it has not extended this advice to <a href="https://www.wcrf.org/dietandcancer/breast-cancer">breast cancer</a>.</p>
<p>Health concerns about red meat intake also lie in its links to <a href="https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-smart/nutrition-basics/aha-diet-and-lifestyle-recommendations">heart disease</a>, which are supported by <a href="https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/eating-red-meat-daily-triples-heart-disease-related-chemical">research evidence</a>.</p>
<h2>It’s about quantity</h2>
<p>It is useful to look at the quantity of meat consumed by those with the lowest incidence of breast cancer in this study. It was small – no more than 340g of red meat a week, or equivalent to about two average-sized red meat portions a week. </p>
<p>By contrast, the highest incidence of breast cancer occurred in those with a weekly consumption of 775g or more. </p>
<p>The greatest benefit, according to the researchers’ modelling, appeared in women who substituted lean poultry for red meat.</p>
<hr>
<p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/confused-about-your-cancer-risk-from-eating-meat-heres-what-the-figures-mean-49888">Confused about your cancer risk from eating meat? Here's what the figures mean</a>
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<p>Adding a small amount of red meat to a plant-based diet is unlikely to cause health problems. In modest quantities, red meat can actually make a valuable nutritional contribution, adding iron, protein and vitamin B12. </p>
<p>But problems with red meat relate to the quantity consumed – more is not better.</p>
<p>Sustainability concerns around the methods of red meat production also relate to the quantities consumed. Earlier this year, the <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(18)31788-4/fulltext#%20">Eat-Lancet Commission’s healthy reference diet</a> for sustainable food systems recommended a 50% reduction in global consumption of red meat.</p>
<p>So while this new research doesn’t provide enough evidence to suggest eating chicken is protective against breast cancer, women who currently consume a lot of red meat may find it useful to know poultry is an acceptable alternative.</p>
<h2>Blind peer review</h2>
<p>The analysis presents a fair, balanced and accurate assessment of the study. In this study, the researchers looked at the impact of consumption of different types of red meat and white meat, and the way the meats were cooked, on the rates of breast cancer. </p>
<p>The researchers showed red meat consumption (which in this study included beef, lamb, veal, pork and game meat) increased the risk of invasive breast cancer, while consuming poultry (including chicken, turkey, ducks, goose, quail, pheasant/game birds) reduced the risk of invasive breast cancer. There was no association shown between the way the meat was cooked and breast cancer risk. <strong>– Evangeline Mantzioris</strong> </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-get-the-nutrients-you-need-without-eating-as-much-red-meat-110274">How to get the nutrients you need without eating as much red meat</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/121628/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Recent reports suggested eating chicken could reduce the risk of breast cancer. In the study, those who ate chicken were at lower risk – when compared to women who ate large quantities of red meat.Rosemary Stanton, Visiting Fellow, School of Medical Sciences, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/972262018-06-17T14:47:18Z2018-06-17T14:47:18ZWhy reducing antibiotics in farm animals isn’t as easy as it seems<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222058/original/file-20180606-137306-yewjh8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cattle that are grass-fed, antibiotic- and growth hormone-free gather at a farm in Oregon in 2015. There's a debate over whether antibiotic use in livestock makes germs more resistant to the drugs, and results in infections being passed on to humans who consume the meat.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Don Ryan)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The use of antibiotics in meat production is a rapidly emerging issue in food discourse. The conversation around meat, eggs and dairy <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-animal-cruelty-undercover-video-and-our-collective-avoidance/">has focused on animal welfare</a> over much of the past five years, but it’s now moving to other elements of production.</p>
<p>Whereas animal welfare is complex, it pales relative to the complexity of antibiotic use. There is a real risk that we may be moving towards a less-than-ideal result for animals, producers and consumers due to poor understanding, over-simplistic messaging and a rush for competitive advantage. But it’s important that we get it right.</p>
<p>There is broad, scientific consensus that antibiotic use in animal agriculture is increasing the risk of the development of resistant bacteria. It’s less clear what, if any, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3234384/">role this plays in human health</a>. </p>
<p>Antibiotics continue to play a critical role in keeping <a href="http://www.oie.int/en/for-the-media/amr/">animals healthy</a>. They are used for both the prevention and treatment of diseases in animals. Historically, they have been used to improve performance by reducing the challenge of subclinical disease — diseases without visible symptoms. And <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/antibiotic-antimicrobial-resistance/animals/actions/responsible-use-antimicrobials.html">Canada</a> and the <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/after-years-debate-fda-curtails-antibiotic-use-livestock-542428">United States</a> have both introduced new rules that preclude the use of antibiotics for livestock growth going forward.</p>
<p>Antibiotic use in animal agriculture is complex and plays out in the overlapping domains of economics, animal health and welfare. It also impacts the efficacy of antibiotics in human medicine in the face of increasing resistance in humans. </p>
<h2>A distrust of science</h2>
<p>Balancing these explicit trade-offs will be the challenge as we move towards reducing antibiotic use in food animal production. </p>
<p>What’s more, the discussion is taking place in the context of poor understanding among consumers — of how food is produced, let alone the mechanism of resistance development — and amid an increasing <a href="https://www.foodsafetymagazine.com/magazine-archive1/december-2015january-2016/when-consumers-and-science-collide/">skepticism about science</a> within the general population. </p>
<p>There are also differences between antibiotic products and how they are administered. </p>
<p>The primary focus today is reducing the use of antibiotics that are <a href="http://www.who.int/foodsafety/areas_work/antimicrobial-resistance/cia/en/">important to human medicine</a>. There is also some pressure to move away from administering antibiotics in feed to large groups of animals.</p>
<p>There are, however, instances in which bulk-feeding antibiotics to livestock or poultry is the best approach to treating an outbreak in a group, instances where individual treatment is impractical. </p>
<p>More important is reducing sub-therapeutic use in feed — instances where antibiotics are fed to animals that aren’t sick, almost as a preventative medicine to reduce the sub-clinical disease risk and to spur growth in the animals.</p>
<h2>What is the right amount?</h2>
<p>There is again broad consensus that reductions in antibiotic use need to happen. </p>
<p>There are also impending <a href="http://www.inspection.gc.ca/about-the-cfia/science/our-research-and-data/science-fact-sheet-antimicrobial-resistance/eng/1509647559865/1509647560617">regulatory changes</a> that will reduce use. Some companies, <a href="https://awguarantee.ca/en/faq/chicken/">such as A&W</a> and <a href="http://www.mapleleafprime.ca/introducing-prime-raised-without-antibiotics/">Maple Leaf</a>, have committed to “raised without antibiotics (RWA)” protocols for at least some of their products. </p>
<p>This may not always be possible, however, and animals that require treatment are removed from the RWA value chain, but are still sold commercially. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222062/original/file-20180606-137315-5cglrc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222062/original/file-20180606-137315-5cglrc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222062/original/file-20180606-137315-5cglrc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222062/original/file-20180606-137315-5cglrc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222062/original/file-20180606-137315-5cglrc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222062/original/file-20180606-137315-5cglrc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222062/original/file-20180606-137315-5cglrc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Chicks raised without antibiotics on a Pennsylvania farm are seen in this April 2012 photo.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Matt Rourke)</span></span>
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<p>Universally raising animals without antibiotics, however, is likely not possible, particularly given current technology and practices. There may be technologies and management practices that emerge to contribute to the reduced need for antibiotics. But responsible stewardship of animals may also be in jeopardy if animal health and welfare are sacrificed by delaying or withholding treatment.</p>
<p>Reducing antibiotic use will also likely <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK232579/">raise costs for producers</a> and with them, prices for consumers.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-we-should-tax-meat-that-contains-antibiotics-75721">Why we should tax meat that contains antibiotics</a>
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<h2>A hybrid approach</h2>
<p>Finally, it’s important to determine if there will be a single approach to reduction (i.e., a universal standard) or value chain-specific changes. </p>
<p>A single approach has some merit — to ensure we achieve the reductions necessary to reduce the risk of antibiotic resistance. There will also likely be emerging technologies and management practices that allow for the replacement of antibiotics in some production systems.</p>
<p>The reality is that disagreements over science, competitive differentiation and evolving consumer preferences will likely mean a hybrid approach. Such an approach ensures that we meet minimum standards while also meeting the different needs of the fragmented market.</p>
<p>Regardless of the approach, antibiotic use will be an important factor in the food conversation in the years to come.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/97226/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael von Massow receives funding from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food to research issues in food waste and nutrition labeling for restaurant menus. He has received funding from the Walmart Foundation to explore food waste at the household level. He has received money from the Tim Hortons Sustainable Food Management Fund to explore consumer attitudes to antibiotic use and animal welfare. He has also received funding from Longo's Brothers Markets in support of research into consumer behaviour in food retail.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alfons Weersink receives funding from Food from Thought, sponsored through the Canada First Research Excellence Fund, and from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA).</span></em></p>The use of antibiotics in raising livestock is complex. We could be moving towards a less-than-ideal result due to poor understanding, over-simplistic messaging and a rush for competitive advantage.Michael von Massow, Associate Professor, Food Economics, University of GuelphAlfons Weersink, Professor, Dept of Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of GuelphLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/936322018-03-22T22:05:40Z2018-03-22T22:05:40ZNew NAFTA or no NAFTA? How Trump’s ire could affect Canadian agri-food<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/211434/original/file-20180321-165580-1aj51tt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Donald Trump doesn't liked to be reined in, which is why he has such a problem with trade deals like NAFTA.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(The Associated Press)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The main objective of international trade agreements like NAFTA is to put limits on the ability of politicians to intervene in trade matters — for example, mutually agreeing to remove tariffs on certain goods and never raising them in the future.</p>
<p>This ensures that society benefits from trade by increasing the predictability and reducing the risks for companies wishing to engage in international commerce.</p>
<p>In the past, when politicians were unconstrained — when there were no rules of trade — <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/02/trumps-easy-win-trade-war-is-a-no-win-situation-for-wall-street-and-main-street.html">the result was economically damaging, beggar-thy-neighbour trade wars.</a></p>
<p>A system of rules for trade has been in place since 1947, with the successful negotiation of the multilateral <a href="https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/gatt_e/gatt_e.htm">General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).</a> NAFTA fits within that rules-based system.</p>
<p>Over the 70-year span since the GATT rules were established, politicians have generally accepted the constraints on their actions that have been agreed upon — often by the elected officials who preceded them.</p>
<p>U.S. President Donald Trump, of course, is not cut from that cloth. He does not accept that there should be constraints on his freedom to act as he sees fit.</p>
<h2>Trump faces limits</h2>
<p>This is not only manifest in the sphere of international trade, but also more broadly. He rails against constraints, but nonetheless <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/15/politics/travel-ban-ruling/index.html">the courts have limited his ability to ban travellers</a> from certain countries, and the United States Congress <a href="https://www.upi.com/Trump-No-construction-on-border-wall-until-Congress-OKs-funding/9901519820758/">has so far denied him the funds</a> to build a wall on the Mexican border.</p>
<p>When Trump refers to existing <a href="https://www.bnn.ca/trump-vows-to-fix-bad-trade-deals-as-republicans-seek-to-save-nafta-1.983621">trade deals as being bad deals for the U.S.</a> or the <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-37479586/nafta-single-worst-deal-ever-approved">worst deal ever</a>, he is not really speaking about specific trade policies. Rather, he’s complaining that previous administrations have agreed to provisions that hem him in.</p>
<p>In an attempt to exert his ability to act as he sees fit, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/trump-prepared-to-hit-china-with-60-billion-in-annual-tariffs/2018/03/19/fd5e5874-2bb7-11e8-b0b0-f706877db618_story.html">Trump recently chose to hike tariffs</a> to punish countries he accuses of trading unfairly because they’re running trade surpluses with the U.S. or have been able to induce firms to move production, and jobs, out of the United States.</p>
<p>As an expert on agri-food trade who has advised on trade agreements since the pre-NAFTA Canada-U.S. Trade Agreement (CUSTA) negotiations, I believe the Trump administration forced, under threat of cancellation, the renegotiation of NAFTA — primarily to remove constraints on his freedom to act in trade matters concerning Mexico and Canada. </p>
<h2>Agriculture not a big U.S. target</h2>
<p>The U.S. had no specific agricultural agenda in its desire to alter NAFTA. But if the renegotiations result in removing protections for Canada’s agri-food sector, then the risk for Canadian firms exporting farm products to the United States would likely increase considerably.</p>
<p>How?</p>
<p>The U.S. has put two major proposals on the table: To remove the NAFTA dispute settlement mechanism, and to have the new agreement subject to a cancellation review every five years.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-big-challenge-of-the-nafta-renegotiations-dispute-settlement-82394">The big challenge of the NAFTA renegotiations: dispute settlement</a>
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<p>Removal of the NAFTA dispute settlement mechanism would, in effect, remove any constraint on the use of <a href="https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/tif_e/agrm8_e.htm">anti-dumping and unfair subsidy/countervailing duties</a> by the United States.</p>
<p>It’s well known that the domestic institutions that carry out investigations into the types of trade disputes arising from anti-dumping and countervail actions <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/economy-budget/349111-nafta-reboot-must-settle-dispute-over-dumping-disputes">can lead to biased results</a>, but the bias is kept somewhat in check by NAFTA’s dispute settlement system.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/211108/original/file-20180320-31617-1pknpco.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/211108/original/file-20180320-31617-1pknpco.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211108/original/file-20180320-31617-1pknpco.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211108/original/file-20180320-31617-1pknpco.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211108/original/file-20180320-31617-1pknpco.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211108/original/file-20180320-31617-1pknpco.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211108/original/file-20180320-31617-1pknpco.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, Mexican Secretary of Economy Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer pose for a photo during the seventh round of NAFTA renegotiations in Mexico City in March 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)</span></span>
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<p>The beef and pork industries in Canada are well-acquainted with the risks and costs associated with U.S. anti-dumping and countervail actions. Other U.S. policies such as country-of-origin labelling <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/canada-u-s-meat-labelling-wto-1.3354048">have been moderated by the constraints inherent in dispute settlement mechanisms.</a></p>
<p>Absent NAFTA, Canada would still have access to the World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement system, <a href="https://www.ictsd.org/opinion/options-for-breaking-the-wto-appellate-body-deadlock">but U.S. officials are attempting to remove that constraint as well</a>.</p>
<h2>Why locate in Canada?</h2>
<p>Having a cancellation review every five years would also make it risky to locate any processing facilities designed to serve the North American market in Canada.</p>
<p>Because most processing facilities have lifespans much longer than five years, it would be much safer for a company to locate a plant in the U.S. in the event NAFTA were to be cancelled in the near future .</p>
<p>It is fairly clear that the decision to locate major beef processing facilities in Western Canada was based on the secure market access <a href="http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstream/29043/1/19020070.pdf">provided by the original CUSTA</a>. If that secure access is lost, similar investment in Canada could not be expected.</p>
<p>There is one specific agricultural issue in the NAFTA renegotiation.</p>
<p>The U.S. has asked for better access to Canadian dairy markets. <a href="http://theprovince.com/opinion/op-ed/trevor-hargreaves-foreign-lobbyists-want-to-kill-canadas-effective-supply-management-system">Canada’s supply management system</a> limits imports on milk, a range of dairy products such as cheese and ice cream as well as poultry. NAFTA has removed tariffs on most products with the glaring exception of those covered by supply management.</p>
<p>It’s an obvious and easy target for the Americans.</p>
<p>Canadian governments of all political stripes have been tenacious in defending the trade barriers needed to bolster supply management — through GATT, CUSTA, NAFTA, WTO, CETA and TPP negotiations. </p>
<p>Given that agriculture is not a focus of the Trump administration, small concessions might be expected on dairy and poultry.</p>
<h2>What’s ahead?</h2>
<p>If the NAFTA negotiations fail and the Trump administration decides to withdraw from the deal, it’s not clear whether U.S.-Canada trade relations will revert to CUSTA, with little change from NAFTA, or to the WTO.</p>
<p>If it’s the WTO, there would be higher tariffs on some agricultural products destined for the United States.</p>
<p>The Canadian government is between a rock and a hard place in the NAFTA negotiations — if they accept U.S. demands on dispute settlement and five-year reviews, then many of the benefits of NAFTA would be nullified. </p>
<p>If they do not agree, the Trump administration may withdraw from NAFTA.</p>
<p>For now, the best option is to keep everyone at the negotiating table and hope that Trump finally accepts some constraints on his behaviour.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/93632/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>William A. Kerr does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Part of the purpose of trade deals is to prevent politicians from inserting politics into matters of commerce. Donald Trump is bucking that trend. What does it mean for Canada and NAFTA?William A. Kerr, University Distinguished Professor, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of SaskatchewanLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/900912018-02-11T19:09:25Z2018-02-11T19:09:25ZGovernments can’t be trusted to deliver welfare standards for chickens<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/205645/original/file-20180209-160267-e2ikuq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">There are concerns that the new draft poultry standards don't truly have chickens' welfare at heart.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ben Romalis/Shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Claims of secret meetings and manipulation of the policy agenda. A split in government ranks, and threats to withdraw from a national review. It’s all just part and parcel of the latest round in the development of Australian animal welfare standards and guidelines, in this case <a href="http://www.animalwelfarestandards.net.au/files/2015/07/Public-Cons-Version-Poultry-SnG-Nov-2017.pdf">proposed new standards</a> for the poultry and egg industries.</p>
<p>The public consultation <a href="http://www.animalwelfarestandards.net.au/poultry/poultry-public-consultation/">ends on February 26</a>. Although a range of options remain on the table, the current draft standards have been <a href="https://www.rspca.org.au/media-centre/news/2017/rspca-australia-chair-says-animal-welfare-missing-%E2%80%98animal-welfare-standards-0">criticised</a> by animal welfare groups. They argue that these offer little improvement in animals’ housing conditions and other <a href="https://www.rspca.org.au/media-centre/news/2017/better-standards-needed-prevent-cruelty-chickens-egg-industry-rspca">important welfare matters</a> .</p>
<p>Most notably, the draft standards <a href="https://theconversation.com/proposed-poultry-standards-leave-australia-trailing-behind-other-industrialised-countries-88302">exclude any phase-out of battery cages</a>. Instead, they retain the existing space allowance of 550 square centimetres for each laying hen – smaller than an A4 sheet of paper. Animals Australia has also <a href="http://www.animalsaustralia.org/features/australian-poultry-laws-epic-fail.php">expressed concern</a> about the conditions in which meat chickens will continue to be raised.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/proposed-poultry-standards-leave-australia-trailing-behind-other-industrialised-countries-88302">Proposed poultry standards leave Australia trailing behind other industrialised countries</a>
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<p>Besides the criticism of the draft standards, there is concern about the process by which they have been developed, with allegations that governments are being unduly influenced by industry.</p>
<p>Three scientists <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/business/consumer-affairs/rspca-threatens-to-quit-poultry-standards-advisory-group-as-integrity-of-process-is-questioned-20170213-gubgx0.html">complained</a> about selective and misleading use of their research to strengthen the case for conventional caged egg-laying systems. While they later <a href="https://www.vff.org.au/vff/Media_Centre/Latest_News/Media2017/RSPCA_needs_to_stop_playing_politics_with_poultry_welfare__says_VFF.aspx">expressed satisfaction with the revised documentation</a>, the lack of an independent scientific review led the RSPCA to conduct its <a href="http://www.animalwelfarestandards.net.au/files/2015/07/FINAL_2016-08-The-welfare-of-layer-hens-in-cage-and-cage-free-housing-systems-FINAL.pdf">own review</a> of the current science.</p>
<p>The concerns also prompted the Victorian government to commission its own <a href="http://agriculture.vic.gov.au/agriculture/animal-health-and-welfare/animal-welfare/farmed-bird-welfare-science-review">review</a> of the scientific literature.</p>
<p>Western Australia was the next state to weigh in. In November 2017, the state agriculture minister, Alannah MacTiernan, <a href="https://thewest.com.au/business/agriculture/alannah-mactiernan-calls-foul-over-battery-fowl-welfare-standards-fail-ng-b88673833z">expressed misgivings</a> about the draft standards, citing their failure to reflect both current scientific thinking and community expectations.</p>
<h2>More allegations</h2>
<p>MacTiernan also <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-22/western-australia-may-leave-chicken-welfare-review/9283274">threatened to pull out of the national process</a> after a <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-21/allegations-of-backroom-deals-to-keep-battery-hen/9281050">damning report on the ABC’s 7.30 program</a> in December.</p>
<p>Documents obtained by the ABC appear to show <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-21/egg-farmers-accused-of-colluding-with-nsw-government/9229242">secret meetings</a> between the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) and industry representatives, allegedly to manipulate the outcome of the process. These also revealed that a meeting was requested with the “independent” chair of the standards advisory group before his appointment was finalised. </p>
<p>Allegations of impropriety were compounded in January 2018 by the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-01-08/concerns-poultry-welfare-standards-stage-managed-by-industry/9299256">revelation</a> that Victoria’s executive director of biosecurity emailed the NSW DPI in 2016 to express concern about the standards process. The email noted that Victoria “to some extent shared” the RSPCA’s criticisms, including that the process lacked independence and transparency and had been “stage-managed” for the benefit of industry.</p>
<h2>Inadequate response</h2>
<p>While the DPI admitted that Victoria had raised concerns, a spokesman for NSW Primary Industries Minister Niall Blair <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-01-08/concerns-poultry-welfare-standards-stage-managed-by-industry/9299256">said</a> these issues had been dealt with appropriately by escalation to the Animal Welfare Task Group (AWTG). The minister’s office denied any secret meetings with industry.</p>
<p>The chair of the AWTG also rejected any undue influence, <a href="http://www.animalwelfarestandards.net.au/files/2017/12/ABC-730-poultry-guidelines-AWTG-statement.pdf">stating</a> that “industry was not represented on the group that was tasked with drafting the guidelines. This group included representatives from Animal Health Australia (AHA) and the NSW Department of Primary Industries”. </p>
<p>But this is hardly reassuring. The AWTG is <a href="http://www.animalwelfarestandards.net.au/files/2015/07/Public-Cons-Version-Poultry-RIS-Nov-2017.pdf">comprised</a> of deputy secretaries from Commonwealth, state and territory agriculture/primary industries departments.</p>
<p>AHA is a not-for-profit company <a href="https://www.animalhealthaustralia.com.au/who-we-are/information-for-members/members/">consisting of these departments and major livestock industries</a>. Its <a href="https://www.animalhealthaustralia.com.au/strategic-priorities/">strategic priorities</a> suggest that it is chiefly concerned with animal welfare as a way to improve <a href="https://www.animalhealthaustralia.com.au/strategic-priority-three/">biosecurity and market access</a>.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the DPI’s <a href="https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/about-us/who-we-are">principal goal</a> of promoting primary industries is at odds with its management of the animal welfare standards process. This is particularly true given that NSW has the <a href="https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/753195/NSW-DPI-Statement-Poultry-Guidelines.pdf">largest proportion of egg producers in Australia</a>.</p>
<h2>Independent regulator needed</h2>
<p>This saga seems to underscore a claim that lawyers have been <a href="http://www.federationpress.com.au/bookstore/book.asp?isbn=9781862879300">making for years</a>: that animal welfare regulation is characterised by conflicts of interest and dominated by industry. </p>
<p>Disquiet about these issues has reached the Productivity Commission. In 2016, it <a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/completed/agriculture/report/agriculture.pdf">identified major shortcomings with farm animal welfare regulation</a>. These included a lack of credible scientific evidence and a need for greater independence and transparency.</p>
<p>The commission recommended the establishment of a standalone statutory animal welfare commission to manage national standards development. It further recommended that state and territory governments separate agriculture policy from livestock welfare monitoring and enforcement.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-know-what-youre-getting-when-you-buy-free-range-eggs-81675">How to know what you're getting when you buy free-range eggs</a>
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<p>Australians have already demonstrated their concern about animal welfare by changing consumer habits. The publicity about the current process and the strength of community opinion may yet force some revision of the proposed standards.</p>
<p>After all, in denying any collusion, Minister Blair’s office has <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-01-08/concerns-poultry-welfare-standards-stage-managed-by-industry/9299256">stressed</a> that the draft standards “will be changed and updated to reflect the feedback” from the consultation.</p>
<p>But that’s no longer enough. There can be little confidence in a process that attracts trenchant criticism from such diverse quarters. To restore public confidence, we need to take animal welfare out of the hands of state and federal agriculture and industry departments, and give it to an independent umpire.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/90091/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth Ellis is a member of the RSPCA and Animals Australia. </span></em></p>The current review of standards for egg and poultry farming does little to assuage fears that the industry wields too much influence. Only an independent regulator can restore public confidence.Elizabeth Ellis, Honorary Senior Fellow, School of Law, Faculty of Law, Humanities & the Arts, University of WollongongLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/870522017-11-15T21:44:05Z2017-11-15T21:44:05ZNo, turkey doesn’t make you sleepy – but it may bring more trust to your Thanksgiving table<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/194876/original/file-20171115-19799-1kdyhqt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Don't blame the turkey for those snores coming from the living room!</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/slicing-turkey-522962479">Shannon Jordan/Shutterstock.com </a></span></figcaption></figure><p>‘Tis the season for giblets, wattles and snoods – oh my. On Thanksgiving and Christmas, Americans consume about 68 million turkeys – one for about every five of us. In fact, <a href="http://extension.illinois.edu/turkey/turkey_facts.cfm">29 percent of all turkeys</a> gobbled down in the U.S. are consumed during the holidays.</p>
<p>And where turkey is being eaten, there is inevitably talk of tryptophan – a naturally occurring chemical found in turkey and other foods. This building block of protein often takes the blame for eaters feeling sleepy soon after the Thanksgiving meal.</p>
<p><a href="http://extension.illinois.edu/turkey/turkey_faqs.cfm">Science has cleared tryptophan</a>, though – it’s <a href="http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/77/1/128.abstract">not the culprit</a> when it comes to drowsiness after the feast. There are far more important factors leading to those post-turkey comas, not least of which is my Uncle Clarence’s story about parking at the airport. Add that to free-flowing booze combined with a <a href="http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/47/3/433.abstract">load of carbohydrates</a> followed by plenty more booze and you have a foolproof recipe for <a href="http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/85/2/426.full">dozing off on the couch</a>. Turkey, chicken, lamb and beef all <a href="https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/nutrients/report?nutrient1=501&nutrient2=&nutrient3=&fg=13&fg=17&fg=5&max=25&subset=1&offset=0&sort=f&totCount=112&measureby=g">contain roughly the same amount of tryptophan</a> – ranging from 0.13-0.39 grams per 100 grams of food – yet the sleepiness myth has never surrounded those other foods.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/194877/original/file-20171115-19789-x4zpvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/194877/original/file-20171115-19789-x4zpvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/194877/original/file-20171115-19789-x4zpvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194877/original/file-20171115-19789-x4zpvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194877/original/file-20171115-19789-x4zpvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194877/original/file-20171115-19789-x4zpvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194877/original/file-20171115-19789-x4zpvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194877/original/file-20171115-19789-x4zpvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Overeating and drinking are more likely at the root of your post-feast nap.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/homemade-turkey-thanksgiving-dinner-mashed-potatoes-157931939">Brent Hofacker/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>So tryptophan is off the snooze-inducing hook. But researchers in the Netherlands suggest it does have a different psychological effect: They’ve discovered that doses of <a href="https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/L-tryptophan#section=Top">tryptophan</a> (chemically known as L-tryptophan and abbreviated TRP) can promote interpersonal trust – that feeling you get when you look somebody in the eye, shake her hand and think, “I can cooperate with this person and she would reciprocate.” </p>
<p>In a study <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797613500795">published in the journal Psychological Science,</a> pairs of volunteers were each given an oral dose of 0.8g of TRP or a placebo. For comparison, a <a href="http://extension.illinois.edu/turkey/nutrition.cfm">100g standard serving of turkey</a> about the thickness of a deck of playing cards contains <a href="http://www.dietandfitnesstoday.com/tryptophan-in-turkey-breast.php">about 0.31g of tryptophan</a>.</p>
<p>Each duo then sat in separate cubicles and played a game where one person (the truster) was given US$7 and had to decide how much to transfer to the other person. The transferred money was then multiplied by three and the trustee could give back part of the tripled money.</p>
<p>The more money you’re willing to give away in the first place, the greater your return in the end – but you have to trust the other person to cooperate. A very simple and profitable game if played right.</p>
<p>The researchers found that the TRP group gave $4.81 on average and the placebo group offered only $3.38. This is a sizable 42 percent increase in transferred money between the two groups.</p>
<p>So what’s going on? Here’s the brain science behind how the tryptophan-trust connection works. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.ars.usda.gov/northeast-area/beltsville-md/beltsville-human-nutrition-research-center/nutrient-data-laboratory/">TRP is an essential amino acid found in many foods</a> including eggs, soybeans, chocolate, cheeses, fish, nuts and, of course, turkey. The brain region associated with interpersonal trust – known as the medial prefrontal cortex – is powered by the neurotransmitter serotonin. Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers found throughout the body that transmit signals from one nerve cell to another.</p>
<p>Our bodies synthesize many neurotransmitters from simple amino acids which are readily available in our food and can be quickly converted in a small number of biosynthetic steps. The neurotransmitter <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.174.4013.1023">serotonin is controlled in part by the release of TRP</a>. This means that as you increase levels of TRP you’re able to release serotonin in the brain region specially designed to process trust. Think of a flashing neon sign that reads “trust this person, trust this person.”</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/194880/original/file-20171115-19782-1guxkf8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/194880/original/file-20171115-19782-1guxkf8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/194880/original/file-20171115-19782-1guxkf8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194880/original/file-20171115-19782-1guxkf8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194880/original/file-20171115-19782-1guxkf8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194880/original/file-20171115-19782-1guxkf8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194880/original/file-20171115-19782-1guxkf8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194880/original/file-20171115-19782-1guxkf8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A plate of turkey won’t convince you to buy into Cousin Gerald’s pyramid scheme.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/people-celebrating-thanksgiving-holiday-tradition-concept-497011660">Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
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<p>Keep in mind, however, that our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.256">decisions to trust or not</a> to trust do not rely solely on ingesting TRP. In the real world we take into account personality factors, how well we know someone, previous cooperation with that person, tone of voice, eye contact, body language <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02312.x">and so on</a>. These all have a hand in shaping the conscious and unconscious rules that govern our pro-social behavior and trust preferences.</p>
<p>So this holiday season, eat your turkey (or salmon or cashews or cottage cheese or chocolate) and remember that few things are more pleasurable than the joy that comes from sharing a holiday meal with loved ones. Science shows us that tryptophan can promote social bonding, but there still is no substitute for giving thanks. Trust me.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/87052/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kevin Bennett does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Remember that story about the molecule found in turkey that makes you drowsy? Research shows it’s a myth – tryptophan doesn’t cause you to nod off, but it may be connected to cooperation.Kevin Bennett, Full Teaching Professor of Psychology, Penn StateLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/860352017-11-13T01:01:57Z2017-11-13T01:01:57ZThe strange story of turkey tails speaks volumes about our globalized food system<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193827/original/file-20171108-14182-18ak4eh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Headed for export?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/aH4bfM">Ryan McDonough</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Intensive livestock farming is a huge global industry that serves up millions of tons of beef, pork and poultry every year. When I asked one producer recently to name something his industry thinks about that consumers don’t, he replied, “Beaks and butts.” This was his shorthand for animal parts that consumers – especially in wealthy nations – don’t choose to eat.</p>
<p>On Thanksgiving, turkeys will adorn close to <a href="http://extension.illinois.edu/turkey/turkey_facts.cfm">90 percent</a> of U.S. dinner tables. But one part of the bird never makes it to the groaning board, or even to the giblet bag: the tail. The fate of this fatty chunk of meat shows us the bizarre inner workings of our global food system, where eating more of one food produces less-desirable cuts and parts. This then creates demand elsewhere – so successfully in some instances that the foreign part becomes, over time, a national delicacy.</p>
<h2>Spare parts</h2>
<p>Industrial-scale livestock production evolved <a href="http://www.fao.org/docrep/009/a0158e/a0158e02.htm">after World War II</a>, supported by scientific advances such as antibiotics, growth hormones and, in the case of the turkey, <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/11/the-supersized-american-turkey/281843/">artificial insemination</a>. (The bigger the tom, the harder it is for him to do what he’s supposed to do: procreate.) </p>
<p>U.S. commercial turkey production <a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/livestock-meat-domestic-data/">increased</a> from 16 million pounds in January 1960 to 500 million pounds in January 2017. </p>
<p>That includes a quarter-billion turkey tails, also known as the parson’s nose, pope’s nose or sultan’s nose. The tail is actually a gland that attaches the turkey’s feathers to its body. It is filled with oil that the bird uses to preen itself, so about 75 percent of its calories come from fat.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193832/original/file-20171108-14215-9vse2w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193832/original/file-20171108-14215-9vse2w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193832/original/file-20171108-14215-9vse2w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193832/original/file-20171108-14215-9vse2w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193832/original/file-20171108-14215-9vse2w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193832/original/file-20171108-14215-9vse2w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193832/original/file-20171108-14215-9vse2w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193832/original/file-20171108-14215-9vse2w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ready to eat.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/dBeeHr">Mark Turnauckas</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>It’s not clear why turkeys arrive at U.S. stores tailless. Industry insiders have suggested to me that it may simply have been an economic decision. Turkey consumption was a novelty for most consumers before World War II, so few developed a taste for the tail, although the curious can find <a href="http://www.soulfoodandsoutherncooking.com/how-to-cook-turkey-tail.html">recipes online</a>. Turkeys have become larger, <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/11/turkey-bigger-thanksgiving-butterball-antibiotics/">averaging around 30 pounds today compared to 13 pounds in the 1930s</a>. We’ve also been breeding for breast size, due to the American love affair with white meat: One prized early big-breasted variety was called <a href="https://modernfarmer.com/2014/11/turkeys-got-broad-white-breasts/">Bronze Mae West</a>. Yet the tail remains. </p>
<h2>Savored in Samoa</h2>
<p>Rather than letting turkey tails go to waste, the poultry industry saw a business opportunity. The target: Pacific Island communities, where animal protein was scarce. In the 1950s U.S. poultry firms began dumping turkey tails, along with chicken backs, into markets in Samoa. (Not to be outdone, New Zealand and Australia exported “mutton flaps,” also known as sheep bellies, to the Pacific Islands.) With this strategy, the turkey industry turned waste into gold. </p>
<p>By 2007 the average Samoan was consuming more than 44 pounds of turkey tails every year – a food that had been unknown there less than a century earlier. That’s <a href="http://www.nationalchickencouncil.org/about-the-industry/statistics/per-capita-consumption-of-poultry-and-livestock-1965-to-estimated-2012-in-pounds/">nearly triple</a> Americans’ annual per capita turkey consumption. </p>
<p>When I interviewed Samoans for my book <a href="https://islandpress.org/books/no-one-eats-alone">“No One Eats Alone: Food as a Social Enterprise</a>,” it was immediately clear that some considered this once-foreign food part of their island’s national cuisine. When I asked them to list popular “Samoan foods,” multiple people mentioned turkey tails – frequently washed down with a cold Budweiser.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193838/original/file-20171108-14205-17phee6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193838/original/file-20171108-14205-17phee6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193838/original/file-20171108-14205-17phee6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=335&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193838/original/file-20171108-14205-17phee6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=335&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193838/original/file-20171108-14205-17phee6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=335&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193838/original/file-20171108-14205-17phee6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193838/original/file-20171108-14205-17phee6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193838/original/file-20171108-14205-17phee6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">American Samoa is a U.S. territory covering seven islands in the South Pacific.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NPS_american-samoa-regional-map.jpg">National Park Service</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>How did imported turkey tails become a favorite among Samoa’s working class? Here lies a lesson for health educators: The tastes of iconic foods cannot be separated from the environments in which they are eaten. The more convivial the atmosphere, the more likely people will be to have positive associations with the food. </p>
<p>Food companies have known this for generations. It’s why Coca-Cola has been ubiquitous in baseball parks for more than a century, and why many McDonald’s have PlayPlaces. It also explains our attachment to turkey and other classics at Thanksgiving. The holidays can be stressful, but they also are a lot of fun. </p>
<p>As Julia, a 20-something Samoan, explained to me, “You have to understand that we eat turkey tails at home with family. It’s a social food, not something you’ll eat when you’re alone.”</p>
<p>Turkey tails also come up in discussions of the health epidemic gripping these islands. American Samoa has an obesity rate of <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/battling-american-samoas-75-percent-obesity-rate/">75 percent</a>. Samoan officials grew so concerned that they <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2013/05/14/182568333/samoans-await-the-return-of-the-tasty-turkey-tail">banned turkey tail imports</a> in 2007.</p>
<p>But asking Samoans to abandon this cherished food overlooked its deep social attachments. Moreover, under World Trade Organization rules, countries and territories generally cannot unilaterally ban the import of commodities unless there are proven public health reasons for doing so. Samoa was forced to <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-20/an-samoa-lifts-ban-on-high-fat-turkey-tails/4699506">lift its ban</a> in 2013 as a condition of joining the WTO, notwithstanding its health worries.</p>
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<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/242318480" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Author Michael Carolan cooks turkey tails for the first time.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>Embracing the whole animal</h2>
<p>If Americans were more interested in eating turkey tails, some of our supply might stay at home. Can we bring back so called <a href="http://www.restaurant.org/Manage-My-Restaurant/Food-Nutrition/Cost-Management/Serving-up-the-whole-animal-Nose-to-tail-cooking">nose-to-tail</a> animal consumption? This trend has gaining some ground in the United States, but mainly in a <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/01/24/iowa-pig-tail-trend/1862573/">narrow foodie niche</a>.</p>
<p>Beyond Americans’ <a href="http://modernnotion.com/the-world-war-ii-campaign-to-get-americans-to-eat-organ-meat/">general squeamishness</a> toward offal and tails, we have a knowledge problem. Who even knows how to carve a turkey anymore? Challenging diners to select, prepare and eat whole animals is a pretty big ask.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193839/original/file-20171108-14221-sh1zwr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193839/original/file-20171108-14221-sh1zwr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193839/original/file-20171108-14221-sh1zwr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193839/original/file-20171108-14221-sh1zwr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193839/original/file-20171108-14221-sh1zwr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193839/original/file-20171108-14221-sh1zwr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193839/original/file-20171108-14221-sh1zwr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193839/original/file-20171108-14221-sh1zwr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Oxtails were a popular Depression-era meat cut in the United States, but now are found more frequently in Asian cuisine; shown here, oxtail soup at a Chinese restaurant in Los Angeles.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/oEfLU4">T. Tseng</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Google’s digitization of old cookbooks shows us that it wasn’t always so. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=j3MEAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+American+Home+Cookbook&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiaqtfUzZHXAhWH14MKHfneDy4Q6AEIKzAA#v=onepage&q&f=false">“The American Home Cook Book</a>,” published in 1864, instructs readers when choosing lamb to “observe the neck vein in the fore quarter, which should be of an azure-blue to denote quality and sweetness.” Or when selecting venison, “pass a knife along the bones of the haunches of the shoulders; if it smell [sic] sweet, the meat is new and good; if tainted, the fleshy parts of the side will look discolored, and the darker in proportion to its staleness.” Clearly, our ancestors knew food very differently than we do today.</p>
<p>It is not that we don’t know how to judge quality anymore. But the yardstick we use is calibrated – intentionally, <a href="https://islandpress.org/books/no-one-eats-alone">as I’ve learned</a> – against a different standard. The modern industrial food system has trained consumers to prioritize quantity and convenience, and to judge freshness based on sell-by-date stickers. Food that is processed and sold in convenient portions takes a lot of the thinking process out of eating. </p>
<p>If this picture is bothersome, think about taking steps to recalibrate that yardstick. Maybe add a few <a href="https://sustainablefoodcenter.org/latest/gardening/heirlooms-for-thanksgiving-dinner">heirloom ingredients</a> to beloved holiday dishes and talk about what makes them special, perhaps while showing the kids how to judge a fruit or vegetable’s ripeness. Or even <a href="https://www.chowhound.com/post/turkey-tails-819469">roast some turkey tails</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/86035/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Carolan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The fate of turkey tails shows how Americans have shifted from eating whole animals to focusing on choice cuts – and the surprising places where unwanted parts end up.Michael Carolan, Professor of Sociology and Associate Dean for Research & Graduate Affairs, College of Liberal Arts, Colorado State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.