Over 60 Million Fowl are Culled Senselessly each year. There were 60 million just in 2016, and its estimated that 90 million might have been slaughtered last year in 2024 alone. Meanwhile, France halted culling in over 97% of their flocks. Why do we still cull our flocks? The USDA and FDA will tell you it’s to stop H5N1 from infecting humans. But here’s the real gist of it. Those flocks are insured, and the owners are given subsidies not to fix the issue.
Over 60 Million Fowl are Culled Senselessly
In 2001 after the US government saw how H5N1 could kill 90% of flocks of chickens, the norm became to cull them all to stop the spread of the disease. They could have let h5N1 run its course, allowing all the chickens to eventually become immune to it. Instead, culling became the easiest way to deal with Avian Flu. They simply “stamp out” the problem… till the next outbreak.
Another method, which thus far hasn’t been enough to stop the spread, has been to get stricter with safety. Last year we found out that Avian Flu has spread to 80% of the Cattle in California alone. As you can probably guess, our efforts to contain the outbreak hasn’t worked in that effort either. Here’s the sad part though. It’s not just Cattle, Chickens, and Ducks now. Bird Flue is now affecting sea lions, big cats like lions and tigers, and even house cats.
A 2016 a policy brief stated that controlled vaccination for flocks at risk should be included in a multi-prong control strategy alongside enhanced biosecurity, an eradication plan, monitoring, and a repopulation plan. Since 2016, eradication is often the answer used.
Vaccinations
Since 2001 when the disease first popped up, various vaccines have been created. These include both human variations and animal variations. Roughly 63 people have been infected thus far worldwide. Of those 63 cases, the mortality rate has been 50%. Comparing that to COVID-19 in its Alpha version which had a mortality rate of 10% and killed millions of people worldwide, a human version of H5N1 would likely kill off hundreds of millions. Yes, we have millions of doses in our emergency stockpile, but all it takes is one person having the common flu AND H5N1, a few gene swaps later and we will have an unstoppable virus.
Here’s the real meat of this story… If 60 Million Fowl are Culled, we could simply vaccinate all the animals which are in our food supply. Yes, it would likely cost a billion dollars. But the end result would be many fewer deaths of our flocks. It’s already been proven safe for human consumption by all the other countries that started doing this a decade ago.
Vaccinate your home flock
In 2023, the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service began testing five vaccine candidates. According to the USDA’s website, studies show the candidates provided near 100 percent clinical protection in chickens. (The USDA has also started to “assess the potential to develop” an H5N1 vaccine for cows.) The USDA has not released further information about the clinical trials.
If you live in the United States, while vaccines for animals do exist, they are not provided to citizens at this time. However, if interest is given (replies, contacting me, and/or reposting elsewhere), I will try to source the vaccines for both members and guest readers alike. You and I can stop those 60 Million Fowl are Culled. Obviously, it won’t be free – but I do have associates in other countries who are able to acquire certain resources, though of course I cannot guarantee due to unknown variables *cough-government-intervention-cough*.
