A farm on film clearing the bodies of thousands of chickens killed in bird flu epidemic

Thousands of hens killed in the UK’s biggest ever bird flu epidemic were dumped into open dumpsters for disposal in what has been described as “an absolutely horrific sight”.

Critics of factory farming predicted the sickness will become more frequent and potentially mutate.

It occurs after a “very rare” case of bird flu has been detected in a person in the UK, and the public has been urged not to touch sick or dead birds.

Animal welfare activists said elimination, while necessary, involved leaving people potentially infected birds outdoors, risking the spread of viruses in the surrounding area.

The footage, taken three days before Christmas at a farm supplying UK supermarkets, shows workers in full hazmat suits tipping wheelbarrows of hens into a mechanical loader, which then dump the carcasses into a dumpster.

Animal welfare organization Open Cages, which obtained the footage, said dead and possibly infected birds were left in the open while workers took their lunch break.

“Both discharges and fluids from birds can be observed in machines when dust enters the air. Bird viruses can be present in air samples up to 110 meters from infected farms, ”said Open Cages general manager Connor Jackson.

A 2018 study found traces of an avian virus in air samples 50-110 meters from the infected farm, even after the birds were withdrawn.

“Bird flu used to be a very rare disease among chickens, but today epidemics occur every year – these images help explain why, ”Jackson said.

“When you take tens of thousands of chronically stressed animals and cram them into an indoor facility, you create an ideal environment for disease.

“The more animals suffer, the more stressed they are and the less their immune system can cope. “

Open Cages calls on the government to end factory farming, which it says creates the ideal conditions for diseases to spread “like wildfire” and then mutate.

A Warning 2020 report of the “catastrophic” danger for the poultry industry of causing a new pandemic, which the authors say could kill millions of people.

The authors cautioned against mutations that could transfer the virus to a human host through contact with a “large amount” of biological material in the chicken farm. The 1918 influenza pandemic, which killed 50 million people, was believed to have been caused by birds.

“These images should shock us more than they do,” added Mr. Jackson. “Across Britain two million intelligent, sensitive and sensitive individuals have been wiped out like numbers on a spreadsheet. It is an absolutely horrible sight.

“Two million animals have been gassed to death and we are treating them as usual.

“This shouldn’t be normal: bird flu used to be a very rare disease. “

Bird-to-human transmission of avian influenza – or bird flu – has only occurred a small number of times in the UK, with the risk being described as “low”.

The H5N1 strain of bird flu – believed to be the one circulating among birds this winter – has so far killed 134 out of 239 people infected, according to the World Health Organization. This is a death rate of over 50% in humans, Jackson said.

“An avian flu virus only needs to mutate once to infect a worker or resident nearby, and then we have another pandemic on its hands,” he said.

“But this time it will be more catastrophic. Many virologists and disease experts say intensive agriculture is the most likely cause of the next pandemic. “

Would you like us to tell you about an issue that interests you? Contact us by clicking here.