More evidence against the factories

A recent article in the Guardian details new theories of the origin of bird flu put forward by GRAIN (an environmental organization), which has support in the scientific community. Rather than wild birds spreading H5N1 (avain flu) to farmed birds, evidence is mounting that confined animals are harboring and spreading the disease to the wild bird population.

The most hard-hitting part of this new study is the that “..the pattern of outbreaks follows major road and rail routes, not flyways,” meaning that the disease is spreading along industrial lines rather than bird migration routes.

With this “good” news that outdoor flocks are not to blame, but rather industrial farming techniques, come some bad. Will H5N1 still make free-range poultry a thing of the past? The question remains….