(SasinT Gallery/Stock photo via Getty Images)
I have been following closely our country’s bird flu crisis and am especially concerned about the recent revelation that a second type of bird flu has been detected in dairy cows in Nevada and a new strain of the bird flu virus, H5N9, was found in California.
These developments are precisely what many public health officials have been most concerned about as it means that bird flu is transforming in a way that could allow it to spread more easily in humans.
For this reason, I was disheartened when I read the news that the new administration has halted the release of public health information related to the study of bird flu virus, including knowledge that could help reduce the risk of contagion.
I call on South Carolina’s senators and representatives in Washington to do what they can to reinstate communication and information that will help solve our nation’s bird flu virus epidemic.
Just a few weeks ago, 490 quail, pheasants, and ducks were destroyed on a commercial gamebird facility in Spartanburg County after bird flu was found. I support the state veterinarian, Dr. Michael Neault, for helping to quickly isolate and test the birds.
Healthcare professionals are monitoring this situation and remain hopeful that South Carolina does not join the list of states in which human cases of bird flu have been detected.
I applaud our public health officials for doing what they can to keep the bird flu from spreading but the reality is that the virus has sickened dozens of people, decimated poultry populations, and infected dairy cows.
Now is the time to take a hard look at the food production system that puts farm workers in close contact with sick birds and cows, the “standard American diet” that demands it, and the health ramifications of both.
From a doctor’s perspective, shifting food production away from intensive animal agriculture can benefit public health.
Facilities with large numbers of animals in a small amount of space are a concern for public health because they provide ideal conditions for viruses to spread, evolve, and possibly acquire the ability to more easily infect people. Intensive animal agriculture was implicated when influenza viruses H1N1, H5N1, and N7N9 jumped from animals to people, according to research published in “Frontiers in Microbiology.”
It may surprise some to learn that South Carolina ranks 13th and 17th in our country for egg and broiler chicken production, respectively. That is a lot of opportunity for spread of bird flu virus.
The life of a contract chicken grower can be challenging, and some of them are repurposing their chicken houses to grow crops. Poultry farmers Dale and Paula Boles in neighboring North Carolina switched from chickens, converted their 500-foot-long poultry barn to a greenhouse, and now grow organic vegetables.
They are not alone. In southwest Arkansas, farmers Jennifer and Rodney Barrett are transitioning from raising poultry and cattle to growing mushrooms.
These farm transitions aren’t easy.
The government should provide financial and technical support.
South Carolina could help its farmers with a program like the one established by lawmakers in Vermont who provide grants to farmers who wish to diversify or transition from one type of farming to another.
Fortunately, South Carolina is full of opportunity for poultry and dairy farmers who want to transition to crops or orchards.
After all, not every state can lay claim to the annual Okra Strut, World Grits Festival, and the Colleton County Rice Festival. Plant-based foods like beans, legumes, veggies and delicious fruits grown in South Carolina can help people improve heart health, prevent diabetes, and maintain a healthy weight, among other benefits.
Shifting away from animal agriculture helps our environment and improves worker safety as well. Large-scale poultry operations produce huge amounts of waste and contribute to waterways overloaded with phosphorous, and other pollutants. Poultry farms are a primary source of water, air, and land pollution.
My personal experience and the experience of my patients is that removing animal products from the diet improves health, and the scientific literature tells the same story.
A recent study with 22 pairs of identical twins found that a plant-based diet improves heart health in as little as eight weeks. The twins following a plant-based diet experienced lower LDL, or “bad” cholesterol, and they lost more weight than the omnivore twins.
In the short term, let’s allow our public health officials to communicate in order to stop the spread of this virus.
Taking a long view, government grants and other assistance should be available if South Carolina poultry farmers or egg producers would like to switch to growing crops and planting orchards, which will also benefit human health and the environment.