American Journal of Public Health Editorial Implicates Factory Farming in Emerging Human Diseases

An editorial by David Benatar, Ph.D., in the September 2007 issue of the American Journal of Public Health entitled "The Chickens Come Home to Roost" points out that simply treating animals better—and dramatically reducing the number of them we exploit—could alleviate much human suffering. It also questions the necessity of raising so many chickens, given the looming threat of a flu pandemic.

The Humane Society of the United States applauds the journal for including the scathing commentary on factory farms' and live animal markets' cruelty and public health risk.

"Confining tens of thousands of birds in football field-sized sheds to stand beak-to-beak in their own waste is a breeding ground for both animal and human diseases. With avian influenza strains threatening to trigger a human pandemic, it's not worth risking millions of human lives for the sake of cheaper chicken," stated Dr. Michael Greger, director of public health and animal agriculture for The HSUS and author of Bird Flu: A Virus of Our Own Hatching.

The American Journal of Public Health is the official publication of the American Public Health Association (APHA), the oldest, largest and most diverse organization of public health professionals in the world.

The editorial notes that the level of human suffering caused by diseases that originated from animals such as AIDS, SARS and mad cow disease "probably could have been avoided had humans treated animals better." It also discusses the importance of preventing new diseases by ending the intensive production and slaughter of animals for food. The editorial notes, "It is curious, therefore, that changing the way humans treat animals—most basically ceasing to eat them or, at the very least, radically limiting the quantity of them that are eaten—is largely off the radar as a significant preventive measure."

It concludes, "To switch avian images, it is time for humans to remove their heads from the sand and recognize the risk to themselves that can arise from their maltreatment of other species."

Facts

• The possibility of an influenza pandemic triggered by a bird flu virus such as H5N1 is considered the greatest threat to global public heath. The strain has killed approximately 200 people and 200 million birds since its emergence a decade ago.
• Worldwide, 55 billion chickens are produced every year. Spread wing to wing, the number of chickens killed every day would wrap more than twice around the world's equator.

Timeline

• August 2007—The World Health Organization's annual World Health Report notes that new infectious diseases are now emerging at a rate unprecedented in the history of medicine—in part because of intensive poultry production.
• June 2007—A Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations report suggests that the industrialization of animal agriculture in recent decades is increasing public health risks on a global scale.
• February 2007—A report on the potential role of factory farming in human infectious disease epidemics is published in Environmental Health Perspectives.
• November 2003—APHA passes a "Precautionary Moratorium on New Concentrated Animal Feed Operations" that urges all federal, state, and local authorities to impose an immediate moratorium on the building of new factory farms out of concern for the health of workers and local communities, given the land, air, and water pollution associated with these industrial facilities.

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The Humane Society of the United States is the nation's largest animal protection organization—backed by 10 million Americans, or one of every 30. For more than a half-century, The HSUS has been fighting for the protection of all animals through advocacy, education, and hands-on programs. Celebrating animals and confronting cruelty—on the web at humanesociety.org.