Chicken virus will make Covid-19 look like nothing.....

[Needamanicure]

Dr Michael Greger, suggests "an apocalyptic virus that would make corona seem irrelevant"

Leading scientist warns of the danger of a pandemic triggered by chicken farms that could kill half the world's population - yes it is reported in the Daily Mail, The Sun and a few regional papers. This guy thinks we are headed for more animal spawned virus in the coming years so seat belt up and wait for it....

YABU - don't be stupid it won't happen for a long time - worry story

YANBU - the way humans farm animals it will happen sooner than you think

All the scientists have spoken about the potential threat, but not in a "belt up, this is inevitable" way more about changing the way we do things, being more mindful of our relationship with animals and about behaving in a way which doesn't spread viruses. The key threat is to do with the illegal wild animal trade. The scientists are not suggesting we stop eating meat, but saying that farmed animals are safer - not free from potential harm but safer. So the message is - stop the illegal wild animal trade, improve farming practices, be aware that travel and interpersonal behaviour affects the spread of viruses.

He probably means avian influenza. This is the bird flu we were all worried about a few years ago. At the moment there's types of bird flu that are quite dangerous to humans if they catch it from birds but can't easily spread human-to-human. So the concern is that one of those types could mutate to be more easily transmitted between humans.

This isn't a new threat, this is something most governments have been concerned about and planning for for years. Our UK pandemic planning was based it probably being some kind of pandemic flu because flu is the most likely one to have hit us. We already had several flu pandemics in the 20th century.

We can't tell how dangerous a new kind of pandemic bird flu would be, because it would have mutated to allow human-to-human transmission. It would be unlikely for it to wipe out half our species though. Usually viruses that are that lethal can't spread as well.

Factory farming and other things like live poultry markets make risks like this bigger so he's not wrong in saying that's a problem.

But on the other hand, think of it this way: the best way to shut a possible pandemic down again is for governments to notice the threat quickly and respond fast and governments are going to be on very very high alert now. Nobody is going to be complacent about a possible pandemic for a good long while after our current one. Also, governments everywhere have this experience to look back on to see what worked well and what didn't. Also it's a lot quicker to make vaccines for pandemic flu, because they're made based on flu vaccines that already exist.

I agree, GolderOmber, we can only hope one of the positives from this will be that we won't be so incompetent next time round. Asia in general did much better at containment because of their experience with sars. I don't understand why we can't learn from watching others/books/research but hopefully we will learn from lived experience

I do believe there are more deadly viruses around the corner. I am not vegetarian, but it seems obvious to me that the way we produce food, in an ever increasingly intensive way, is dangerous. People want readily available, super cheap food - but at what price?

So, what about anthrax found in Siberia once the permafrost started to melt.

What can we do about that?

Whether inevitable or not as someone said above coronovirus is still here, with the us going over 100,000 in the past few days it's hardly a blip so people cant say that something bigger is coming because at the end of this we dont know where we'll be unfortunately. I think get through this first

Here it is, if anyone's interested:

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8370969/The-apocalyptic-killer-virus-coming-home-roost.html

don't be so lazy and go google

That bit's unreasonable.

The rest of it, maybe not so much.

Needamanicure

Mine you, with the way some hysterical people are reporting that 'someone' passed right by them..... OMG shoot them now... they really don't understand that someone walking by them and passing in a second is not going to kill them.

The country has become a nation full of fearful and frankly ridiculous people... snitching on the neighbours that invited a family member around because 'it's not allowed'.... Oh my look at how busy the park/beach/walk was whilst not seeing the irony in that they are there commenting...

The nation is full of idiots ready to burn someone at the stake for 'walking right by them'... or entertaining a family member

Is this what we have become?

when you've lost a loved one or more than one loved one due to this virus, come back and re word your post, stick head

I thought this guy was a crazy vegan?

Zoonoses have existed throughout history, and probably predates it. Viruses can move between species. That's a fact. Whether one breeds or consumes animals will not prevent a normal, natural process.

This really makes very little sense. Obviously if you engage in intensive farming, then you make it easier for viruses to jump from animals to humans. We know that the move from a hunter-gatherer society to a society based on agriculture led to many illnesses crossing from animals to humans. In the past few years we've seen swine flu and bird flu and now Covid-19. It's only a matter of time before something even nastier makes the leap.

"This nation is full of idiots" you're not wrong there OP. Some of them will even post ridiculous alarmist threads with no substance or reference to their source and dismiss those asking for it.

Agree with @hfrdgftcsdg

In fairness, his "vegan agenda" may be wanting to help people be healthier, as well as animal rights. The fact is more and more studies are linking cancer to consummation of animal products. I haven't succeeded in cutting animal products out of my diet fully yet (in all honesty I'm just about to put a chicken pie in the oven) but it's worth at least being informed about our choices.

I lost a friend to ovarian cancer and the irony wasn't lost on me that she'd been a big egg lover to the extent that she kept her own hens and sometimes ate eggs at all three meals. Of course it could have been a sad coincidence, but it made me think and start to look into what we consume.

I do still consider him an opportunist though.

Obviously if you engage in intensive farming, then you make it easier for viruses to jump from animals to humans organised food farming is required to be done under certain strict conditions and it is when practice falls short that risks get worse I think. The scientists consider the considerable illegal wild animal trade to be of more risk. There is some risk in all contact, and everywhere - it is the level of risk which can and should be managed better.

I agree with the pp that we have all hopefully learned things from this pandemic, the governments what is needed and how to react and all of us about taking some personal responsibility to help prevent spreading of something you know is contagious. The people out there still not getting it will eventually get it if it carries on being communicated.

I would like to see the UK government doing more here, taking advice from other countries about lining up testing as standard in the future, requiring face masks outside now until this pandemic is under control, and for it to be normal to be wearing a face mask in the future if you have something contagious, maybe

Also more humanity and social responsibility from the government generally, and more expected by the population.

Seriously, half of Tenerife is about to slide into the sea and the resulting tsunami will wipe out cities around the Atlantic dozens of miles inland (including New York and London). It is due to happen any second now (geologically speaking).

Pandemics or not. The way we treat these poor animals is appalling. The slaughter house near me kills 10,000 chickens every hour and 9,000 pigs everyday. How is this ok?

I'm not seeing the OP as being either 'rude' or a 'Covid dementor'.

The theory that flank collapse in the Canary Islands could cause mega-tsunamis has been fairly comprehensively debunked. Flank collapse will cause damage, but not the Hollywood disaster movie-like scenes the tabloids like to paint.

blogs.agu.org/landslideblog/2013/12/13/canary-islands-tsunami/

Yeah, it's meat production that's at the heart of most of these weird mutations. Time to go back to traditional farming methods and eat less meat.

"from China where animal husbandry is poor" We don't need to go to China for that. Let's not forget how we caused BSE because we fed meat to herbivores. We fed the meat from diseased cows to other cows. Cannibalism for profit.

I'm strongly in favour of better conditions for livestock for the sake of the animals, but also for our health. We won't go fully vegan though and if we did people would miss the animals. They would all have to go. We wouldn't keep them. We'd destroy them all and reuse the space they are currently taking up.

For that matter most pets too. Some can live on a vegan diet, but if we're that worried about zoonosis why risk it.

Chocolately spoil sport. Much more fun worrying about incredibly unlikely Hollywood-style disasters. Don’t tell me - there aren’t particles heating up our earths core to a point where it will shift all the continents around in a couple of days?

Seriously, half of Tenerife is about to slide into the sea and the resulting tsunami will wipe out cities around the Atlantic dozens of miles inland (including New York and London). It is due to happen any second now (geologically speaking).

Nothing happens in seconds, geologically speaking

Ha! Sorry. We can still worry about asteroids, gamma ray bursts, solar flares, Yellowstone erupting, zombie apocalypse...

We do need to eat less meat.
But intensive farming is not just meat farming.
Until we learn to manage the soil,prevent erosion of top soil,depleting any nutrition in it,clearing trees which leads to soul being washed away.Unless we can manage all this and have enough healthy bees(not farmed) to pollinate plants then we will be unable to feed enough people on plant based food alone.

I can’t influence anything like that, by worrying or by taking any actual action so I’m just not going to think about it.