More than 36 million chickens and turkeys in the U.S. have been put to death as officials order them culled when even a single fowl in a farming operation tests positive for the Eurasian H5N1 bird flu.
While this particular virus poses little danger to humans, health officials say it’s infectious and dangerous to birds, including those raised for meat and eggs. The problem with the mass culling, however, is the way the animals are being killed.
Although there are less cruel methods to exterminate the animals, instead farmers are “… using a variety of excruciating methods, including spraying birds with a suffocating water-based foam or closing off barn vents to raise temperatures so the birds die by heat stroke, a practice called ventilation shutdown, which can take 1.5 to 3.75 hours to kill them,” Vox reports.
And, “Most birds aren’t dying from the virus itself, but are killed to slow the spread of the disease,” Vox said. Scientists say the USDA is helping to fund research for a bird flu vaccine.
SOURCE:
Vox May 5, 2022