Dead cows infected with bird flu were recently found dumped on the side of the road—and it gets worse.
In October, veterinarian Crystal Heath released videos revealing piles of dead cows outside a dairy farm in California. Confirmed to be infected with avian influenza H5N1, the cows were left to rot without any biosecurity precautions. Heath stated:
What was so shocking was that there was so little signage around anywhere telling the public about avian influenza and warning them of the biosecurity risks. I’m worried that wildlife could come into contact with them. We know that cats are susceptible to avian influenza; the first sign that a farm has an infection is often when cats end up dying after they’ve drunk raw milk.
Bird flu has spread to hundreds of dairy herds around the country, leaving rendering companies—hired by dairy farms to dispose of animal carcasses—struggling to keep up. This backlog sometimes means that dead cows infected with bird flu can be left outside for days, increasing the risk that the virus will spread.
And the virus is spreading.
According to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cases of bird flu among dairy workers is likely higher than originally thought. Out of 115 workers tested in Michigan and Colorado, eight had antibodies to H5N1—meaning they had recently been infected. The farms where they worked also had confirmed cases of bird flu in cows in the previous 90 days.
In more bad news, the virus was recently detected in a pig in the United States for the first time. This is particularly concerning because pigs can be infected with both bird and human viruses at the same time, making it easier for strains to mutate and jump to humans.
Take Action
The time to act is now.
Please join Mercy For Animals in calling on Congress to pass the Pigs and Public Health Act—a groundbreaking bill that aims to reduce animal suffering and help prevent pandemics that can arise from the pork industry. Learn more and take action today.
