Why the threat posed by bird flu is a ticking timebomb for humanity

Farmers like Jerry and Emma Saunders understand the heartbreaking effects of a bird flu infection, but the disease could also be the source of the next major human pandemic

Earlier this year, for one farming couple, the worst day arrived: security guards were positioned at the entrances to their beautiful, organic egg farm. A dozen people in hazmat suits and helmets began setting up the cull equipment. Hens were counted and checked. Only those free of disease would result in compensation payments. They would all be killed regardless.

For farmers Jerry and Emma Saunders, 15 years of toil and passion poured into their successful high-welfare, organic egg business had ended in complete destruction and heartache with the arrival of bird flu. They were in Devon, but this devastating and indiscriminate disease has been striking farms in Scotland, England, Northern Ireland and the European continent.

They woke up to empty fields, all their soft, reddy-brown feathered 'girls' gone. There were no happy sounds of hens scratching. No clucking, no wings flapping, no dust bathing. Just an eerie silence.

The arrival of bird flu on a farm results in a mass cull of the animals and stringent controls to prevent any further spread of the disease(Picture: Matt Cardy) | Getty Images

No farming for a year

They had to shoulder the cost of incinerating about £10,000 worth of eggs which couldn’t be sold and disposing of £5,000 of chicken feed which had to remain on the farm. They won’t be able to restock for 12 months, by which time they will have lost their customer base.

For these hard-working farmers, the option of going through a secondary cleaning and disinfection process is prohibitively expensive. They can essentially do nothing but mothball their precious farm for a year. No activity can take place on any part of their farm within the controlled zone.

“The government has no interest whatsoever in what happens to us, other than making sure we follow their post-cull rules for the year ahead,” Emma said.

It is hard to imagine the loss that Jerry and Emma, and other farmers in similar situations, are feeling right now. A total of 49 farms in the UK have been hit this autumn and winter. The loss goes way beyond finance – watching healthy hens culled and their eggs destroyed takes a massive emotional toll.

Jerry and Emma were dedicated to their flock. Their hens were kept for longer than the commercial intensive farms, and they would re-home them once they were finally past their best.

Commercial poultry industry in China

The virus that kickstarted the current wave of outbreaks first appeared in China 29 years ago – the latest strain has claimed the lives of hundreds of millions of birds since 2021.

Until recent times, bird flu viruses that circulated naturally in wild birds were much like a run-of-the-mill cold or flu in humans. The deadly strains that are now hitting farmed and wild birds alike emerged following rapid expansion of the commercial duck and poultry industry in China.

It then spilled over to wild birds, and has since spread around the world. Infection and death have extended to a variety of wild birds and mammals – as well as domesticated pets and even humans.

The Scientific Task Force on avian influenza, which includes the Royal Veterinary College and the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, stressed wild birds are victims of highly pathogenic bird flu – not the cause.

Scientists’ concerns are elevated each time the virus succeeds in infecting another mammal species. As the virus mutates, it’s not hard to see this trajectory stepping ever closer to causing a human pandemic. Simply put, bird flu is a ticking timebomb.

Growing vicious circle

The rise of intensive farming of poultry has provided the ideal conditions for the spread of pathogens and creation of new and more deadly strains. Cramming together tens of thousands of chickens, all stressed and genetically similar, is a gift for diseases looking to ramp up their pathogenicity.

The Scientific Task Force states that, since the mid-2000s, spillover of highly pathogenic bird flu from poultry to wild birds has occurred “on multiple occasions”. So, low pathogenic bird flu is spread from wild birds to intensive poultry where it can mutate into highly pathogenic bird flu, which then spills over to wild birds and can then spill back to poultry in a growing vicious circle.

Action is needed urgently to break this cycle. Because once these deadly strains of disease emerge, as we have seen in the Devon example, they can hit any type of farm.

The annual short-term lockdown measures to protect domestic flocks from wild birds, in tandem with an ever-increasing number of culls year-on-year, do not tackle the source of problem. Only major farm reforms can end it.

Immediate action is crucial to prevent further devastation and protect both animal welfare and the livelihoods of farmers facing this relentless and heart-breaking crisis.

Smaller flocks, nature-friendly farming

In addition to vaccination of poultry, farmers should be encouraged and supported in the transition towards smaller flocks with lower stocking densities and more robust breeds. This would ensure that farmed birds had higher levels of natural immunity, thereby reducing the risk of highly pathogenic bird flu strains taking hold and spreading.

To break the cycle requires longer-term thinking. An urgent system overhaul of our intensive poultry production is desperately needed, together with a switch to more holistic, nature-friendly farming methods.

The plight of Jerry and Emma Saunders is a stark reminder of the urgent need for systemic change in poultry farming. Without immediate action, the devastating impact of bird flu will continue to ravage farms, livelihoods, and the environment. It's time to prioritise sustainable practices and safeguard our future.

Feathers must be ruffled, action must be taken – and fast – if we are to avoid the situation soaring further out of control.

Philip Lymbery is chief executive of Compassion in World Farming, president of EuroGroup for Animals, and a UN Food Systems Advisory Board member. His latest book is Sixty Harvests Left: How to Reach a Nature-Friendly Future. Philip is on Twitter @philip_ciwf