Covid-19 : How Industrial Animal Agriculture Fuels Pandemics

• Published in: Derecho Animal. Forum of Animal Law Studies
• Main Author: Lymbery, Philip
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2020
• Subjects: Covid-19; Pandemic; Global crisis; Food; Factory farming; Animals; Swine flu; Avian flu; Pandemia; Crisis global; Comida; Virus; Ganadería industrial; Animales; Gripe porcina; Gripe aviar
• Online Access: https://ddd.uab.cat/record/235211

The battle against the Coronavirus pandemic is without doubt the biggest global crisis in a lifetime. Could it be that the way we now produce so much of our food worldwide is already brewing up the next one? Whilst society has gone into battle with the virus, our invisible enemy, the truth is we've been locked in an almighty battle for some time now. At its heart lies factory farming. Keeping animals caged, crammed and confined - the way most farmed animals are now reared - provides the ideal breeding ground for new and more deadly strains of virus. Swine flu and highly pathogenic Avian flu being but two examples. Whilst Covid-19 is believed to be born out of the ill-treatment of animals caught up in wet markets and the illegal wildlife trade, it shows strong parallels with these other viruses of factory farmed origin. Both Swine flu and Avian Influenza - originating in pigs and chickens - have been devastating. The 2009 Swine flu pandemic went on to kill possibly half a million people worldwide. The next pandemic could well come from an incarcerated pig or chicken. From animals 'grown' like mere commodities and fed on the fruits of deforestation. Without ending the intensive farming conditions that promote the emergence of novel strains of viral disease, the next pandemic could well be on our plate. La batalla contra la pandemia de Coronavirus es sin lugar a dudas la mayor crisis global en toda la vida. ¿Podría ser que la forma en la que ahora producimos gran parte de nuestros alimentos alrededor del mundo está ya preparando la siguiente? Si bien la sociedad ha entrado en batalla con el virus, nuestro enemigo invisible, la verdad es que hemos estado atrapados en una batalla todopoderosa desde hace algún tiempo. En su corazón se encuentra la ganadería industrial. Mantener a los animales enjaulados, hacinados y confinados - como se crían hoy en día la mayoría de los animales de granja - proporciona el caldo de cultivo ideal para cepas de virus nuevas y más mortales. La gripe porcina y la altamente patógena ...