Modern factory farms raise animals in extremely unnatural conditions. Almost all 10 billion farmed animals who are slaughtered in the U.S. each year are forced to live in extremely crowded sheds. They are surrounded by their own filth and breathe ammonia-laden air that destroys their lungs and compromises their immune systems. It comes as no surprise that these facilities have become major sources for deadly disease outbreaks such as hoof-and-mouth disease, mad cow disease, Mycobacterium paratuberculosis (which is thought by most scientists to cause Crohn's disease in humans), and now the most dangerous of all: bird flu.

Avian influenza, or "bird flu," threatens humanity with the greatest public health crisis in recorded history. Experts warn that the disease could kill one in eight human beings, including 40 million Americans, and cause a collapse of the world economy. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it can be caught simply by eating undercooked meat or eggs, by eating undercooked food prepared on the same cutting board as infected meat or eggs, or even by touching eggshells contaminated with the disease.

The risk could not be more dire. Senior UN System Coordinator for Avian and Human Influenza Dr. David Nabarro describes it as a threat to "the survival of the world as we know it." Dr. Gregory A. Poland of the Mayo Clinic has called it "what could arguably be the most horrific disaster in modern history." They describe the effects on society: "We haven't even begun to conceive of, to understand, to comprehend what that may mean for our workplace" (Dr. Jeffrey Levi of George Washington University's Department of Health Policy); " chools are closed ... transportation systems are curtailed or shut down ... Critical infrastructure will or may fail: food, water, power, gas, electricity" (Dr. Constance Hanna, corporate director of health services, Honeywell International); and "When this happens, time will be described, for those left living, as before and after the pandemic" (Poland).

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt called the likelihood of an influenza pandemic "very high, some say even certain." Just walk into any factory-farm chicken or turkey shed and it's easy to see why. One shed houses tens of thousands of birds who are never allowed outside and are cooped up in their own filth. When one bird gets sick, the disease can quickly spread to all of them. The conditions in these sheds provide ideal breeding grounds for pathogens, with birds living in their own feces from birth to slaughter and laying hens kept in stacked cages so that feces from the birds on top fall on the birds below. The air in the sheds is so filthy with ammonia and dust that it burns their eyes and throats. (Learn more about the chicken and turkey industries.)

Farmers know that they have created incubation centers for disease outbreaks, so they dose their animals with massive amounts of drugs. In fact, in the U.S., chickens receive more than three times as many antibiotics as people do. However, these antibiotics are only temporarily effective against bacteria and completely useless against viruses such as the bird flu virus. In fact, widespread use of the antiviral drug amantadine to control viral outbreaks in animals on Chinese farms has made the bird flu resistant, rendering the drug useless to protect people. And the problem is not restricted to birds: Pigs and dairy cows, who live under similarly intensive crowded and unsanitary conditions can also get and spread this or similar viruses. Hans-Gerhard Wagner, a senior officer with the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization, has called such "intensive industrial farming of livestock" an "opportunity for emerging disease"—these are veritable flu-making factories.

The current strain of bird flu has already spread from Asia to Europe, infecting 117 people and killing more than half of them. Even if this strain does not cause a pandemic, experts believe that it's only a matter of time before another one does. These viruses are constantly changing, and weaker forms in birds are known to mutate in just months into highly pathogenic forms for which there exists no effective treatment or vaccine. Outbreaks of other strains are regularly detected, including in the U.S., where as recently as in 2004, the disease was found in flocks in Texas and the mid-Atlantic states.

Every time you put yourself in contact with or consume animal products, you risk infecting yourself with this or some other deadly virus. Order a free vegetarian starter kit and get helpful info on making the switch to veganism, lots of delicious recipes, and a free DVD.

http://www.goveg.com/birdflu.asp