An infectious disease could easily start in the US from the meat supply: Report | World news
The next global pandemic may start in the United States, says a report from Harvard Law School and New York University. Even though Americans think it “couldn’t happen here,” regulations are so lax that a virus can easily jump from animals to people spreading a deadly outbreak, researchers found.
“It’s really a false sense of security and an unfounded belief that zoonotic disease is something that happens elsewhere. In fact, I think we are more vulnerable than ever in many ways,” said Ann Linder, one of the report’s lead authors. The report also highlights several areas of vulnerability, including commercial farms where millions of cattle come into close contact with each other and their handlers. Other areas for possible transportation could be the wildlife trade in which animals are imported with few health checks and the fur trade in which minks and other animals are eaten.
“Through globalization, we have destroyed oceans and mountains and other natural boundaries of disease,” said Ann Linder, adding, “We are mixing animals and infectious diseases across different regions and spreading at a dizzying and ever-increasing speed.”
About 220 million wild animals are imported into the US every year for pets and other purposes, said Ann Linder, explaining that if someone wants to bring a dog or a cat into the country, there is a process, “but if I am a wild animal importer and I want to bring 100 wild animals from South America, I can do that with very little process of any kind.”
In response to the study, Ashley Peterson, National Chicken Council vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs, said, “According to the CDC, the possibility of the spread of avian disease to humans in the United States is very rare.”
Workers on pig and poultry farms are especially vulnerable, due to the lack of regulations that protect them, said Delcianna Winders, associate professor of law and director of the Animal Law and Research Institute at the Vermont Law and Graduate School in Royalton.
“There is almost no regulation of raising animals on the farm. There is limited regulation of the slaughterhouse but it is not very good and it is getting worse. “Right now, the federal government is legalizing murder, instead of increasing supervision,” said Delcianna Winders.
